A Dragon's Heart
by VoidDrifter
Summary: Blake is a servant of the Liddell household. Her secret has been hidden for as long as she could remember. One day, Alice goes missing and Blake finds herself in land filled with psychopaths. Will she ever find Alice? Can her tortured heart ever find love in this cruel land? Unknown to all parties a forgotten terror returns, and it's up to Blake and her friends to stop it.
1. Chapter I: The Day the World Ended

**Hey, guys! I'm a new writer on fanfiction... well, not really new more like I haven't really attended to my account at all since I first submitted it so... yeah I'm gonna stop babbling now. You're all welcome to call me Void. **

**This is my first submitted story ever... so please go easy on me. ^^;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own 'Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice' that's owned by QR. If I did own it, I would've put way more villians in it...anyways,**

**I hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

_Chapter I: The Day the World Ended_

It all started the day she died; and it was also the day when the world ended. It didn't rain that day. Only a thin mist hovered over the graves where the funeral took place. The priest's prayer echoed through the family graveyard bouncing from grave to grave of each ancestor of the Liddell family. The morning was eerily silent except for the lone chirp of a sparrow far off.

I waited by the carriage with my hands crossed and my head slightly bowed in respect. It was not my place to attend the funeral. My only job was to serve the Liddell family. My eyes trailed over to the small form of Alice standing apart from the rest. This was the third time Miss Alice has attended a funeral; the first her mother's, the second her grandfather's, and now her older sister's, Lorina. Unlike the rest of the attendees who were wracked with sobs, no sound or movement came from Alice. I frowned.

Alice was very close to Lorina growing up as her mother died when she was young; Lorina took it upon herself to raise Alice and her younger sister, Edith. Lorina was kind and patient with everyone even the servants, even me. It was a shame that Lorina died so young, she barely just started living her life. Her recently wedded husband was wracked with sorrow next to her coffin. I could tell that he loved her so much, as she did him. They would have been wonderful parents. The cause of Lorina's death was unknown; everything about it was kept hush-hush and was hidden from the servants.

The priest finished the prayer; and the service was concluded. As the crowd dispersed I noticed Miss Edith approached me with a fast pace.

She scrubbed her eyes furiously and glowered at Alice who was still standing, un-moving by her sister's grave. "I hate _her_. She never cries at any funerals. It's like she doesn't even-" she choked, "care."

I softened my voice. "She probably cares; she just has a hard time showing it." I gently placed my hands on her shoulders. "Miss Alice is one of those people who probably keep their problems to themselves."

She shook my hands off her shoulders. "No, she doesn't! 'Cause she's the one who killed Lorina! I _know_ it!"

I felt myself freeze at this revelation. _Alice killed Lorina? No, that can't be possible. Alice would never do that._

Edith glared up at me with her bloodshot eyes from crying so much. "Alice was always jealous of Lorina, especially since her _boyfriend_ fell for Lorina."

_Alice had a boyfriend…? _ My eyebrows scrunched up at this disturbing news, and to be honest, I felt a little sick to the stomach. I _had_ to defend Alice. There was no way she could've done… "Miss Edith…" I reached my hand out to her and she slapped it away.

"Don't _Miss Edith_ me! I know what I saw!" with that said she stormed off, "I'm going to go ride with my _real _family!" I watched her board onto her father's carriage, and slam the door shut.

A stone lodged itself deep into my stomach. The only ones who haven't left yet were Alice and I. Alice was still standing next to the newly dug grave and watched as they lowered the coffin into the ground.

I approached Alice carefully. "Miss Alice?" I called out to her, "It's time we should leave." I wanted to say more. Are you okay? I'm sorry for your loss. Those were pointless questions and comments, nothing I could say would bring Lorina back. I placed my gloved hand on her shoulder. The best I could do was comfort her.

Her eyes were empty, staring at nothing. It was as if her Soul left an empty husk behind. I almost jolted, when her head tilted towards me, her eyes gazing right through me.

I wrapped my arm over her shoulders, held her hand in mine, and led her towards the carriage. If anyone saw the intimate way I held Alice, I would have been severely reprimanded and maybe even beaten. I helped her into the carriage. I hesitated before closing the door. "Miss Alice… if you need anything, I'm here for you."

She didn't reply and just continued to stare off into space.

I closed the carriage door with a click.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

I tried to comfort Alice in the best way a servant could, which involved watching over her from a distance. Which, might I add, was absolute _torture_.

It was a week since the funeral, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Edith said. A rain of guilt pelted down upon me. _I'm such a horrible person. How could I even think of Miss Alice doing such a thing! Miss Alice is one of the kindest people I know._ A wave of doubt came over me. _But then again Edith said she saw it with her own eyes…then again Edith always hated Alice so maybe her anger clouded her judgment? Why would Lorina's death be covered up if it wasn't serious…? Unless a member of the family… like Miss Alice…no! NO! There is no way._

I smoothed down my vest before knocking thrice on Alice's bedroom door. "Miss Alice? Breakfast is ready." There was no answer. "Miss Alice?" Still no answer. "I'm coming in Miss Alice." I opened the door and took a few hesitant steps in, scanning the room. "It appears that she has already left," I murmured to myself.

I spotted myself in Alice's body length mirror at the end of the room. I was wearing the traditional servant uniform, consisting of dark-grey cotton pinstripe trousers and vest, a white undershirt with a slight amount of ruffles in the chest area and black sleeve garters on each arm. Black leather shoes adorned my feet with silver buckles and silver buttons complimented the cuffs of my undershirt and front of my vest. In the front left pocket of my vest, my silver pocket-watch is securely tucked away, its chain the only thing that peeked out, and a blue ribbon was neatly tied to the yolk of my undershirt. My white dress gloves were to never be taken off unless I was alone as ordered by the Head Butler.

I winced when I saw my face. It seems the death of Fair Lady Lorina may have affected me more then I let myself believe. There were dark shadows underneath my eyes. I sighed and ran my fingers through my platinum-blonde hair, so pale it was almost white, only for my fingers to get snagged. I smiled sadly to myself. _If Lady Lorina was here, she would be scolding me right now. Her exact words would be, "We can't have our servants looking like rabid animals, now could we?" And then she would proceed to help me fix my hair just as her late mother would've done._ My heart squeezed into itself. Now it was my duty to take care of Alice and Edith in Lorina's stead. "Lady Lorina, I will take care of Alice for you. I promise."

I knew exactly where Alice was. It's where she's always been since the day of her sister's death.

I moved straight to Alice's window and brushed the curtain to the side. In the garden below I could see Alice sitting in same spot she and her older sister would sit together after church. I could tell from her shaking shoulders that she was crying. _Alice…_

I moved away from the window. Alice needs me now, there's no time for me to grieve.

I briskly walked down the stairs abandoning the breakfast trolley cart by Alice's bedroom door. The servants I passed ignored me as I ignored them. I turned into the west foyer and stepped beyond the boundaries of the double glass doors open to the morning breeze. Normally I wasn't allowed to step foot outside of the manor, except for a few exceptions. And finding Miss Alice is the perfect exception.

I heard laughter coming from a small clearing—particularly Alice's laughter. I felt the corner of my lip twitch. _That's strange…_ I spotted Alice sitting on a blanket on the soft grass floor with a teacup in her hand.

"Sister, that's just too funny!" Alice tried stifling her laughter into her hand.

_Sister? Is Edith with her?_ I frowned. _That couldn't be. Edith went back to boarding school just few days ago._ I looked around trying to find someone—perhaps maybe even a letter?—but I couldn't spot anyone anywhere near Alice. I frowned.

"Alright, I'll settle down," she spoke to the air.

I softly approached her. "Miss Alice, is everything alright?" Alice looked up at me, her blue eyes bright and clear. She was looking _at_ me—not through me. I felt a chill go through my veins.

A big smile spread across her face. "Oh, Blake! Would you like to join Lorina and me for tea? It's Darjeeling."

My throat tightened up as I froze in shock. Alice was… talking to herself!? She actually believed her sister was here.

"Blake?"

I snapped out of it and looked in her confused eyes. "Ah, um," I cleared my throat, "not now, I have some… things I need to attend to."

She looked disappointed. "Oh, alright then… but when you're done hurry back, please!"

"Yes, as you wish, Miss Alice." I bowed and quickly left the garden. Sweat gathered at my brow. _Lorina's death seems to have affected Alice a little more than I originally thought._

I took one look back towards Alice to see a white rabbit in my peripheral vision. It was hiding behind a tree wearing clothing and spectacles. _Wha?_ My eyes widened. It was watching Alice, then me. I closed my eyes and shook my head. When I opened them, the rabbit was gone.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

_Where in the world could she have gone?!_ I turned the entire manor upside down trying to search for Alice. Maids and other servants alike were trying their best to aid me in their search. Every single light in the manor was turned on and shouts of Alice's name could be heard here and there.

My lungs strained from the effort of calling out Alice's name so much, and worry lodged itself deep into the back of my throat. Alice has been missing for twelve hours now, and her father was growing anxious by the minute. Usually he wouldn't involve himself with the life of his daughters ever since his wife's death, but he's already lost a wife and a daughter, and he wasn't about to lose another. I saw him pacing down the hall, his tall frame completely rigid.

_This is my fault. I should've kept a better eye on Alice. _Guilt rained down upon me. I made a promise on Lorina's grave to protect Alice, and I've already failed.

I heard one of the maids wail not too far off. "Miss Alice is nowhere to be found!"

At the moment, a decision snapped in my brain. _Look in the garden. She must be in the garden._

I found myself outside in the garden within seconds looking under and behind every bush and tree. "Miss Alice!" I cried out. _Could she have run away? Oh, dear, was it because I was too late to check up on her?_ I kept to my promise and came to spend time with Alice and 'Lorina', but when I arrived Alice was nowhere to be seen. Her blanket and tea abandoned. By the time I finished searching the branches of every tree and turning over every stone in the garden, the orange hue in the clear sky became a blood-red.

I found myself wandering into Alice's room, a wave of defeat washing over me. _Miss Alice…_ I felt the corners of my eyes prick with tears. Just as I was about to allow myself to give in, I accidently knocked over something a bit heavy off her nightstand.

I looked down and saw that it was a book and landed on a particular page of girl falling down a hole, chasing a white rabbit. A wistful smile crossed my face. It was the story, _Alice in Wonderland_. It was a bit ironic that the main protagonist shared the same name with Alice. _Too bad Alice isn't the type to follow strange rabbits down dark holes._ Suddenly the memory of the strange white rabbit that was clothed from this morning popped up into my head. _Could it be—_the door to Alice's room suddenly burst open and the sloped form of the Head Butler, Eldwin Roswell, appeared. His dark eyes immediately zeroed in on me.

"There you are." Next thing I knew his cold boney hand was tightly wrapped around my wrist and I was being dragged out of the room.

I winced. "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that you were looking for me. Is there something you need me to do?"

He didn't give me an answer just kept dragging me down the corridor.

_I'm doomed. He's really angry. And I don't even know what I did wrong! _Actually this wasn't the first time something like this happened there were many occasions on which I was blamed for an accident that wasn't even my fault.

I spotted a few other servants out of the corner of my eye hidden behind the corner of a wall watching the Head Butler dragging me to my doom, while they whispered to one another. _Great, now there's going to be even _more_ weird rumors spread around about me._

Finally Eldwin pulled open a door and closed it behind us with a click that rang 'welcome to hell'. He released my hand quickly as if he held on any longer bad luck would rain upon him for eternity.

Just as I was rubbing my wrist in a poor attempt to revive the blood cells that had been so mercilessly crushed, I noticed that Eldwin wasn't the only one in the dark room with me. I could barely see their faces illuminated by the weak candlelight, but that's all I needed—a glimpse—to know that sitting before me was the Head Maid, Margaret Holstein, and Alice's father, Lord Liddell. My face paled as I realized that I wasn't doomed, I was fucked.

"If you would so kindly, sit, Blake." The Head Maid gestured to the chair across from where she and Lord Liddell sat.

I immediately plopped into the chair, knowing that it wasn't a request. My whole body was stiff from head to toe; I could feel sweat dribbling down the back of my neck. I kept my eyes to the table, unable to meet Lord Liddell's face.

"Where were you from in between the time 3 pm to 4 pm?" she was the only one speaking. Lord Liddell remained completely silent.

_Where was I at?!_ I tilted my eyebrows downward in confusion. "I was in the garden."

"And what were you doing?"

"Well," I started, "I made a promise to Miss Alice that I would have a cup of tea with her when I had the time." I purposefully left out the part about her delusion of her sister. "But I noticed that Alice was missing so I—"

"And you didn't inform us?!"

I jumped a bit at her angry tone. "Uh, no, I-I thought that I would look for Miss Alice on my own. I didn't want to inconvenience any of the staff members for nothing. As we both know Miss Alice does become… a little absent minded from time to time and may have wandered off."

"Oh, reeeaaaalllly?"

"Uh, yes. Really."

Her old eyes sharpened. "Then explain to me why one of my maids reported hearing Alice's screams around that time."

I felt a shock go through me. "Wh-what?"

"Yes, it's quite strange; she specifically mentioned hearing Alice screaming 'Put me down!' and spotting you just through the bushes not too far away from the screaming, in fact very close to the source of screams." She paused gouging my reaction, which I couldn't really react much at that point considering all the muscles in my face were completely frozen. "She also reported that about forty-five minutes later she saw you returning completely covered from head to toe in fresh dirt like you just finished digging a grave, and a big splotch of blood on your shirt."

I didn't know what to think anymore. _They think __**I've**__ killed Alice?!_

The room was silent for a good five minutes, before Margaret spoke again. "How do you plan to defend yourself?" Her eyes flitted over my form reminding me that the shoulder of my shirt was still soaked in blood.

I remembered how I got this way. While I was searching everywhere I possible could, I accidently tripped over a rock—yes, a rock—and fell into a patch of recently turned dirt in the vegetable garden and also at the same time slashing my shoulder on a spade that just happened to be there. I then by that point gave up my search to go clean up, and inform the other servants that Alice was missing.

I repeated this story slowly and carefully to the Head Maid, hoping to God, that she would take my word for it.

She closed her eyes and inhaled. "Your story… seems reasonable enough."

I let my shoulders sag in relief.

"Your proof will be your shoulder. If there's a wound, we'll let you go, if not…" She didn't need to finish her sentence to get the message through. If there's no wound, I'm as good as dead.

Panic ripped through me. My wound already healed hours ago! Even when I was little, for some strange reason, whenever I got hurt my wounds would heal quickly.

"Eldwin, would you be so kind?"

The Head Butler went over to me and gave a cruel smile. He was one of the few people who knew my true identity and secret. In fact, only two other people were still alive who know my identity.

He mercilessly shoved up my sleeve to reveal the recent scar on my shoulder. With normal people, a scar would've taken days to achieve. Unfortunately, I'm anything but normal.

The Head Maid let out a gasp, and the whole room went silent.

I lowered my head to look down at the floor.

*BAM!* Suddenly Lord Liddell slammed both his hands down onto the table, standing causing me to flinch. Before I knew it, Lord Liddell had the front of my vest clenched tightly in his fingers as he dragged me halfway across the table. His red face glared into my terror-stricken eyes.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY DAUGHTER! WERE YOU ALSO THE ONE WHO KILLED MY DEAR LORINA LAST WEEK!?"

For a moment I thought, _how did he know?_ Then, _wait, Lorina __**was**__ murdered?!_ My thought process was interrupted by a punch landing on my right cheek causing my vision to go fuzzy. Abruptly he sent me flying across the room and crashing against the stone wall. I landed on the floor with a loud thump. I could taste copper in my mouth. I saw his Italian leather shoes click in front of my vision, before I was lifted high into the air above his head.

"Where the HELL is my daughter?!" he gritted through his teeth.

It was hard to speak because he was choking me by my own shirt, but I managed to get out a, "I-I don't kn-know." I felt tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes. "I'm sorry."

His blue eyes darkened. "Sorry? You're sorry? YOU'RE GOING TO BE BEGGING FOR DEATH BY THE TIME I'M DONE WITH YOU!" He slammed me against the wall again, and my head gave a loud crack against the wall. Black dots began entering my vision and felt my body go limp in his arms.

"Sir, if I may be so bold," Eldwin finally thought it was about time to step in, "if we're to find Miss Alice's body, we need to keep the boy alive."

I was dropped on the ground and Lord Liddell then had his gripped around his butler's throat. Eldwin's eyes were wide with shock.

"Don't assume that my daughter is dead!"

I could hear Eldwin's loud wheezing through Lord Liddell's chokehold. Never has Lord Liddell ever landed a hand on his servants (besides me) let alone his Head Butler.

"O-of course, sir. I apologize." Lord Liddell released his grip, and Eldwin took in deep gasps. "I will find a way to make the boy talk."

"You do that." With that said Lord Liddell vacated the room, the door giving a bang as it closed.

The Head Maid's face was pale as she continued sitting at the table staring at the door that was just closed.

Eldwin gave me a grave look as he gripped my upper arm. "It's time you've received your punishment."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

*Thump* my body was thrown unceremoniously onto the rough stone floor of the cell, and the clinking and jingle of keys locked the barred cell door behind me. The guard's heavy footsteps stomped away leaving me alone.

My entire body was in complete agony, I couldn't even move my muscles were so frozen. The beating lasted for hours upon hours, or at least that's what it felt like. They kept repeating the question, "Where is Miss Alice?" And each time I told them I didn't know. The beatings escalated to lashings. Eventually the 'cell guard's hand grew tired so he threw me into the cell I was in now.

This wasn't the first beating I've had either. Usually if I messed up in one of my duties I would at the most get ten to fifteen lashings, but never was I whipped so hard as the last few hours. I couldn't even count the amount of lashings I received there was no beat this time just pure pain.

I could feel my vest and undershirt completely soaked in my blood. And the cold from the cell's floor was beginning to take ahold over the little body heat I had left.

I closed my eyes and I could feel the inside of my head aching. _Alice… Lorina….Edith…. am I really a danger to them? Was I really the one who killed Alice? The one who killed Lorina? _I could barely remember the details of the day. _Maybe I really was the one who did it…_ I remembered Alice's delusion from the morning and then the strange rabbit. _Maybe I was the one who was hallucinating… I probably killed her in the middle of one of my fantasies without even realizing it…. I __**am**__ a monster. They were right like they always were. I had the face of an angel, but the heart of the Devil. It would be best if I was just killed._

The flame from the candle, just a few feet away from my cell, became taller and taller turning violet for a split second before it suddenly went out, leaving me in total darkness.

All I could hear was the quick thudding of my heart. Where did the guard go?

It sounded like my cell became a living being as the bars of cell started creaking and squealing as if they were being bent, and the stone walls were shaking as if something was approaching.

"_**Now, now, it's not like you to give up that easily Blake."**_ An ethereal voice boomed into my cell. Fear ripped through my body, pure irrational terror.

My voice quivered a bit from the effort to speak, "Wh-who's there?" I was so quiet I don't think it even hear me.

A deep reptilian-like hiss wrapped around the room. _**"You already know who I am. But who are you? Is the true question now, isn't it?"**_

"I-I don't understand."

"_**You've noticed haven't you? You're different from the others."**_

"…"

"_**You've never belonged in this world to begin with."**_

The wall in the front of cell broke away and was sucked into nothingness. A powerful wind whipped around me. The bars of the cell bent outward before snapping and being sucked into the gaping hole. The ground beneath me tilted downwards towards the void, and I felt myself being pulled down towards it. I let out a scream as I desperately tried to hold onto anything I could get my hands onto.

"_**It's time for you to join the game."**_

The ground beneath me gave way and I fell into the darkness.

* * *

**If there are any grammatical or spelling errors, please notify me as soon as possible. ^/^ It took a lot of courage for me to submit this story, so I would greatly appreciate your help! :D Let me know how you like it so far! Please comment.**


	2. Chapter II:Welcome to Heart Country

**Hey, guys! I'm back with the next chapter! A familiar face is going to be in this chapter! Just let me know if I make him a little too OCC, kay? Oh yeah, if any of you are wondering about Alice killing her older sister, that's completely up to interpretation. *spoiler alert* I know that she died from the same disease that Alice's mother had *spoiler alert* but who knows what could've happened. So please... ^^; don't kill me.**

**Void: Blake, now go on and say the disclaimer!**

**Blake: *bows* Miss Void, does not own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice, Miss QuinRose does. But Miss Void does, own me... and any other OCs that appear in the story.**

**Void: Come on! Just call me, Void. It's not going to kill you.**

**Blake: Yes... it will.**

**Void: *sighs* Here's Chapter 2, enjoy.**

* * *

A Dragon's Heart

Chapter II: Welcome to the Country of Hearts

*Caw!* *Caw!* _Ugh… my body…_ My body was aching all over. *Peck* *Peck* something kept poking my cheek and I swatted it away. "Go away." It stopped, but after a while it began again, this time also poking my leg. I felt my eyebrow twitch. "I said, 'Go away'!" My eyes opened and I came face to face with the beady black eyes of a big crow. It tilted its head as it observed me. My face paled. _I'm being eaten alive by birds!_ "Ahh, get off me!" I struggled and accidently hitting the crow by my feet with my foot. And they both flew away, calling out warning caws to the other crows in the area. _Hmph, serves them right._

I sat up and let out a loud yawn. _What time is it?_ I looked around my surroundings with a blank look on my face. I was in a field of poppies and the sky was an evening red. Surrounding the small field I'm in was a thick forest. _Better yet, where am I? And how did I get here?_ I then remembered being convicted of killing Alice and Lorina, and the scary voice I heard in my cell, before I was sucked into darkness. _So does this mean I'm dead…and that I'm in heaven? Wait that's not right, I should be in hell._ I frowned, and then a gust of wind came up from behind me causing the wounds in my back to sting. _Okay, not heaven, then maybe this is a dream… or real._

I stood up, and brushed off stray pieces of grass and flowers off my trousers. I took out my pocket watch to check the time. I felt my eye twitch. This couldn't be right. It read midnight, but the sun was still up. I sighed; clicking shut the watch and tucking it into my front pocket. _Perhaps, it got damaged when I was being wacked around like a ragdoll._

I couldn't have been passed out for that long after all my wounds still haven't completed healing… then again the wounds were pretty deep so they would probably take longer to heal than normal. _Well, first things first, find civilization, get fixed up, and then look for Alice. _My eyes widened. _Could Alice be here? _It was a possibility. I was going to take that chance.

I headed towards a random direction in the forest. _This is my first time being in the… woods._ From that thought on, I jumped at every little creek and animal noise. I wasn't allowed that much outside of the Liddell household, except for a few exceptions of spending some time in the garden or escorting one of the family members somewhere (which never happened, except for the funerals).

I walked for what felt like hours and I noticed through the occasional glimpse of the sky through the tree branches that the sky still hasn't changed from its blood-red color. _Shouldn't it be dark by now?_ This was a bit peculiar to me, but I didn't really care. If it became dark, I was screwed.

A light shined somewhere ahead of me. _Could it be a clearing?_ Excited, I ran forward. Breaking from the tree-line my feet hit pavement. _Sweet civilization!_ I looked up only to see some guy pull out a gun and shoot someone who was right behind me. I felt my blood turn to ice as I stared at the dead man on the ground. _Oh my God._ I put a gloved hand over my mouth to keep in my scream.

All at once gunfire exploded all around me and I put my hands over my ears and crouched down on the ground. _No wonder they never wanted me to leave the manor!_ Although I knew this wasn't the true reason of why they kept me hidden from the world. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.

I heard the click of a gun right by my head. I looked up. A gun barrel was pointed straight at my face. I froze over. Time seemed to slow as I watched his finger tighten its grip on the trigger. I closed my eyes waiting for the gun to fire a bullet into my head.

It never came. I opened my eyes only to have horror flash through them. There was a steel blade protruding from the chest of my would-be-killer, before it retracted and the man fell limply on the ground next to me. It took me a second or two that all the gunfire was already ceased the bodies of the dead men laid everywhere, and another second to realize the only one standing was tall cloaked man wearing a small mask on his face. His cloak was soaked in the blood from the men he just killed and his sword covered in the blood of the man who almost killed me. And he was staring right at me.

He was silent as he regarded me, before he smiled, sending a chill down my spine. He then started walking towards me. Luckily I had enough brain power to start scooting back. _This man is dangerous!_ I held up a hand in surrender. _He had to understand that right?!_ "I'm sorry, I-I didn't m-mean." I choked. My back hit a natural ledge that separated the road from the forest. "I d-didn't know that… p-please don't kill me." Tears rolled down my cheeks as I squeezed my eyes shut. I almost wished I did get shot in the head by the gun, I'm sure it was much less painful than death by sword.

I heard chuckling from the mysterious man, before full on laughter. _What was so funny?!_ I opened my eyes to see the man bending over and holding his stomach he was laughing so hard. _Great, I just had to run into a psychopath…_

Unexpectedly, I felt a hand plop down on my head causing me to flinch. "You sure are funny, kid."

I found myself muttering against all the warning bells going off in my head saying don't say crap. "I'm not a kid…"

"Huh? What was that?" He held up his hand to his ear and leaned in towards me.

I averted my gaze. "I said, 'I'm not a kid', I'm an adult!" He burst out laughing again while I just stared at him like he was insane. Once he settled down, he started staring at me again making me feel unbearably uncomfortable. "Um…" I shied away from him. He was way too close.

He didn't seem to get the hint and sat right next to me sliding his long arm over my shoulders. _Why is he touching me? _ I never felt so tense in my entire life. "So you're an outsider?"

"Uh, excuse me, I'm a what?"

His smile became bigger. "You're definitely not from around here. Otherwise you probably wouldn't be so freaked out by the dead bodies everywhere."

"Isn't it normal to be freaked out about seeing people killing each other right in front of you?" _This guy was insane! I had to find a way to get away from him._ The only problem was his arm slung over my shoulder preventing me from booking it.

"No, not really, it wouldn't really matter. Our roles will be replaced if we die so it's no big deal." _What? Roles?! What does he mean by 'roles'? Is this guy on opium?_ "Those dead guys over there who just tried to kill you," he pointed at the dead bodies, "those are faceless. They don't have roles, so it wouldn't matter if they died. They're not important." _I love __**so much**__ how he cares for human life._

I studied their faces… _What does he mean by faceless? They have faces. Okay this guy is doing major drugs; I really need to get away from him, __**very **__soon._ "They do have, um, faces, so I don't know what you're talking about." _Here's my chance. _ I slowly took his hand off from my shoulders, and patted the top of it. "Uh, it was nice meeting you," I lied through my teeth. "And I'll be on my way now, so good day." I pivoted on my heel and was just about to sprint the other way when I felt his large hand wrap around my wrist causing me to wince from the bruises that were still there from the other day.

"I understand I've made you feel uncomfortable." _You just figured that out!_ He took off his mask and hood revealing his true face to me. He gave me another huge grin. "Is this better?"

His eyes were a dusky red just like the evening sky above us and his hair was a short messy brown that fell into his eyes. And boy was he tall; I barely reached up to his shoulder. I felt my face slowly turn red. This was the most handsome young man I've ever seen in my life… too bad he had to be a psychopath.

He tilted his head. "What's wrong? You've suddenly gone silent."

"Uh…"

He poked my cheek with his gloved hand. "Your face is red."

My blush became a deeper red. "Well, maybe that's because you're violating _my_ personal space."

He took both of his hands off me and held them up in surrender while clicking his tongue. "You're so touchy, you remind me Julius."

Right when I was about to ask who that was, it was like someone just turned on the on-switch. And bright light flooded my senses. Before I knew what I was doing I latched onto the man, using him as a shield.

"Haha, and I thought you didn't like being touched~!" he teased, smirking down at me.

The sun was high in the sky, and I stared at the bright white puffy clouds in the sky. "It's noon…. How is it noon?" I held my head in confusion. "It was just evening a second ago, how-how did it?! I don't understand!"

He laughed at my confusion. I got the feeling that he's going to be laughing at me a lot today. _Wait, why would I think that I'm going to be spending the rest of the day with this psychopath?_ "The period just changed that's all. One moment it could midnight the next it could be noon. I'm sure it's a lot different from where you come from."

"More than 'a lot'." _My suspicions are concluded. This is a dream. A really messed up dream, but a dream none the less._ I stepped away from him and adjusted my body to on-slaughtering sunlight.

"Oh!" He straightened up as if he just remembered something. "My name is Ace; I'm a knight from Heart Castle. And you are…?"

I suddenly remembered myself. I was acting way too informal with this 'Ace' person. I placed a hand over my heart and bowed. "I am Blake, a servant of the Liddell family. It's a pleasure."

He sweatdropped. "Why so formal all of a sudden?"

"I'm usually this way; it's rare that I act 'informal' which I apologize for my earlier actions." I bowed again.

"Please, stop. This is starting to get weird really fast." His face then went blank. "Wait, did you say Liddell?"

"Yes, I did."

"I wonder if you know Alice."

My eyes widened. "Miss Alice?" My hands gripped on the front of his cloak. "You've seen her?!"

He jumped a bit; he probably didn't expect me to grab him like that. "Yes, I have."

"Is she okay? Is she healthy? Is she sleeping well?"

"Yes, yes, and yes. At least, she was the last time I checked."

"Can you take me to her? Please."

"I'm sorry. I would, but I don't know where she's staying at right now." _He doesn't know where she's staying at? That must mean she moves around a lot._ "What are you, her boyfriend or something?" His smile came up again, sending another chill down my spine. _Why does he smile so damn much?! It's creepy!_

"No, I'm not," I answered cautiously, getting the feeling that if I answered wrong, he wasn't going to be happy, "As I told you before, I serve the Liddell family. It's my job to insure Miss Alice's safety along with her little sister's, but she's gone missing. And I'm trying to find her and bring her back home."

His eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"

"Yes, but my first and foremost job is to secure her safety." I closed my eyes. "I made a promise to someone, you see, someone very important. And I intend to keep that promise, even if it costs me my life."

He patted the top of my shoulder. "Well, you sure seem serious. I'm sure, that not even I could stop you." _Actually, I think you could probably easily stop me. _I sweatdropped.

The bodies of the men were gone, I realized. All that was left were clocks on the ground. My eyes widened. I pointed. "The b-bodies are gone. Did they move?!"

Ace chuckled. "Our bodies disappear after our clocks break. I collect the broken clocks and take them to my best friend, Julius, who fixes them." He laughed when he saw my confused look. He took my hand and pressed it against his chest, making me squirm uncomfortably. "Can you feel it?" I stood there awkwardly before feeling a rhythmic 'ticking', I felt my eyes enlarge. "Unlike where you come from, here we all have clocks instead of hearts." He started to reach his hand forward towards my chest, but I quickly struggled out of his grasp and jumped a few feet away from him. He didn't seem offended, he just smiled.

I looked away. "Where exactly am I?"

"You're in the Country of Hearts. Julius will explain the rest. We should leave before the Afterimages appear."

"Afterimages?"

"Like I said, Julius will explain. I have to go deliver these clocks to Julius." He was already picking up the clocks and putting them into a sack, when he was finished he swung it over his shoulder. "You're welcome to come with me." He started walking down the street and I followed him.

"It wouldn't be any trouble, right? I mean, I don't want to be a burden and slow you down or anything."

"Nah, it's all right. It gets lonely sometimes traveling. It's nice to have company for a change." Suddenly he veered off course from the street and stepped through some bushes.

"Uh, where are you going?"

He looked back at me. "We're taking a shortcut."

"Oh… alright then." _I don't see how going through a forest is a shortcut; wouldn't that just take us longer to take us to our destination? _I sighed. _Then again this Country of Hearts place is strange._

We walked for who knows how long, before a tree decided it was a great time to whack one of its branches into my still wounded back. I let out a cry of pain, before dropping down to the ground on my knees. My whole back felt like it was on fire, I knew if I didn't tend to the wound soon that it would become infected. I tried keeping back my tears as best as possible.

Ace came running over. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I gave him a fake smile. "I'm fine. I just… stubbed my toe."

"You're a horrible liar." He moved my hair out of my face, and looked at the blood spilling over one of my eyes. "Did you get this from the fight?"

"N-no, I-I…" He swept me up from my feet, and held me 'sitting up' with one arm. _Jeez, he's strong! _ I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck to keep myself from falling. "Wh-what're you doing?!" I could feel my blush rushing to my cheeks again.

"Well, it wouldn't be very knightly of me, if I were to make an injured kid walk."

"I'm not a kid, I'm an adult!"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were injured?"

"Uh," I looked down to the ground, "it must've slipped my mind."

"How does having a head wound slip your mind?" He paused, and then answered his own question. "Right, head trauma." He placed me down gently onto a smooth gray rock by a small river. Ace went down to the river took out a small white handkerchief and dipped in the water. He came back to me and pushed my hair aside and started wiping the blood away from my face. He tilted my head this way and that trying to get at every speck of blood. I felt myself growing quickly embarrassed as I've never been treated so gently before in my life. Let alone treated gently by a psychopath to boot~!

"Sir Ace, I think all the blood's gone. I think you should start worrying about yourself. There's some blood on your face." I unconsciously reached up my gloved thumb and swiped away a spot of blood off his cheek.

He stared at me with a surprised expression on his face. "Sir Ace? No one's ever called me that before."

"They haven't?"

"Nah, they usually just call me Ace." He winked at me. "But I like the sound of 'Sir Ace' please do continue with that name." My face turned pink. "Oh yeah, the blood isn't mine. So you don't need to worry about me, but it's cute that you do." Suddenly I just felt a little sick to the stomach. He looked me so intensely into my eyes then; I couldn't help but look away. "You said you're name is Blake right?"

"Yeah."

"It doesn't fit you at all. There's nothing dark about you." He tilted my head up and his face was only a few inches away, I froze up. "How about I give you a different name?"

"Ah, um, please, Blake is fine. It perfectly describes me and I can't just refuse my given name." _I do after all have a black heart._

Warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. "Aw, you're so sweet. I think I'm going to name you 'Angel'."

I flinched from the hug and partially from my wounds on my back. No one has ever… hugged me before. It was completely foreign to me. "P-please, my name is Blake."

"I know, but your nickname from now on is Angel."

"You know I'm a boy, right?"

"Yes, but you have such a feminine face, it's easy to mistake you for an Angel." He sighed. "It's unfortunate that you're not a girl. Otherwise," he whispered, "I would be completely in love with you." A shock filled silence followed that comment. _Did he just say, what I think he said?! NO WAY! There's no way!_

I took in a large breath to calm my heart. I don't think my heart will be able to handle this much compassion in a single day. "Too bad, I'm a guy then," I spoke as sarcastically I could, "now can you let go of me, this getting really creepy." I glared up at me to make my point, and also to help hide my true gender. _I can't let him know my true gender! No wonder the Head Maid wanted me to hide my true gender, so that I wouldn't be 'sexually molested'._ And I was pretty sure that if he did know who I truly was that he wouldn't waste any time in being even _creepier_.

He let go of me. "Angel, why didn't you tell me that your back is also wounded? Let me guess, it slipped your mind."

"Yeah, something along those lines."

Ace sighed. "You remind me so much of Julius." _Okay, now I really want to meet this Julius person since he compared me so damn much to him._ "There were so many occasions that the simple task of 'eating' slipped his mind." _I guess…. I can see the resemblance… but still…_ He gave me a serious face, which kinda freaked me out a bit, because the entire time he just had that fake smile stuck on his face. "Take it off."

"Excuse me?"

"Take off your shirt!"

"What? NO!"

He tugged at my shirt collar. "I can't clean your wounds past your clothes."

I smacked his hand away. "And I said, 'No way'!"

He stood up. "Fine. I guess you won't mind, if I just left you here all alone with angry faceless to fend off. Not to mention all the wild animals that comes out at night."

I grabbed his sleeve. "Alright, alright! Just," I blushed, "could you please turn around while I undress?"

"Why? We're both guys."

"Just, please, Sir Ace." I set out the bait with his 'name' I gave him. "Where are I come from, we don't show our naked bodies to each other no matter the gender."

Ace just laughed. "You're such a child!" I glared at him. "Okay, I'm turning around." I stared at his back for a few seconds to convince myself that he wasn't going to peek. Just in case, I turned my back to him as well, if he did try to peek he wouldn't see anything. I slipped off my vest along with my undershirt and chest bindings, smashing these parcels of clothing to the front of my body I gave him the 'go ahead'. I felt his fingers touch my bare shoulders causing me to jump. He laughed again. "I'm not going to hurt you." I pushed me down softly so I was sitting on the rock again, and started dabbing at my cuts in my back. I let out a small cry. "Sorry, I should've warned you that this was going to sting."

"Just be more careful." Tears welled up in my eyes and it took everything in me to not let them flow. _God, this hurts so much. _At that moment I felt him wipe at a particularly deep cut in my back and I couldn't help, but let a few tears loose.

"Who did this to you?"

"What?" I wiped my tears away with one hand.

"Who was the one who hurt you?" I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off. "And don't tell me that you fell down a hill and ended up this way." _He barely knew me for a day, and he can already guess what I'm going to say? Damn, I must be an open book._ "Did one of the faceless do this to you? If so I wish I killed them slow—"

"No!" I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. I did not want to hear what his sick mind would've done. "It… it's personal, okay."

"You're protecting the guy who did this to you?" he sounded incredulous.

"N-no! I just—look, it doesn't matter anymore okay. All that matters is finding Alice and bringing her home."

Ace stood up from behind me. "I finished." He silently walked away from me. Why did I get the feeling that he was angry with me? I quickly put my clothes back on.

I looked up at the swirling clouds in the sky, which was replaced by a crescent moon, and everything became dark. "What the—!" I shook my head. I still was not used to these random time changes; I don't think I ever will.

Ace pulled a tent out of nowhere. "Looks like we have to sleep outside, tonight." _Where did the tent come from?_

I went over to the tent and asked him to show me how to set up the tent.

He didn't seem as angry anymore. Talk about mood change. "You really don't spend that much time outside, do you?" He showed me how to hammer the stakes into the ground and etc.

"No, at least not like this, most of the time I'm not allowed to leave the manor grounds." I smiled. "So I guess this kind of like a cultural experience for me." I stood up and dusted off my hands. "We need firewood right?"

"I'll get it." He disappeared into the trees. I frowned. _I'll show him, I'm not useless!_

I scurried off into the trees and collected as many branches that could fit into my eyes. _Avoid the wet ones. Avoid the wet ones._ The only real basic knowledge I had about firewood was that. Usually we had already chopped up dry wood delivered to the house once a month, and in the winter, once a week. When I stacked enough sticks to reach the bottom of my chin, I ran back. I waited impatiently for Ace to come back to show him my find.

I heard his footsteps trudging through the underbrush and he appeared. I beamed at him, only for my smile to fade away seeing that he collected way more than I. He had two arm fills of branches aka twice as much as I had. Just when I thought I couldn't deflate anymore he pointed at my stack. "Your branches have poison ivy on them." I let out a yell and dropped them. He started laughing at me.

"It's not funny!"

He just continued laughing anyways. "Never mind, you're nothing like Alice."

I tensed up. I didn't like how he was comparing me to Alice. "Of course, I'm nothing like Alice! She's beautiful, kind, and gentle; I'm nothing but a servant." I helped him stack up the sticks. "My only purpose is to serve the Liddell family."

"You seem to be a pretty negative person."

"No, I'm not usually. I try to stay as positive as possible. If I didn't, then life would be quite dull." I gave him a grin.

"I wish I was an outsider. I'm so jealous. You can choose to be whatever you want." He held up a rabbit that he somehow caught? And prepared it on the spit he set up over the fire.

"Never wish for something you'll regret," I teased him. "I actually didn't choose to become a servant. It was forced upon me from birth. No matter how much I wish I could be something—some_one_—else that can never happen. I will forever be bound to the Liddell family whether I want to or not."

He gave me a strange look. "So you don't want to serve, Alice?" I felt like it was test question.

"I… no, I _do_ want to serve her, I owe her at least that much." I laughed quietly to myself. "I knew her since I was little. She was my first friend… my only friend. I know that sounds stupid, but…" I reached into my right front pocket and pulled out a small handkerchief with little white roses embroidered on the edges. I showed it to Ace. "The first time I met Miss Alice I was 9 years old and she was eight. She gave me the biggest grin I've ever seen. I was so surprised she was smiling at me, I fell face first onto the ground." I laughed. "I used to be so clumsy! But she didn't laugh; instead she worried over me and gave me her handkerchief. Her first handkerchief, the one her mother made for her, she gave to _me_, and she told me to keep it. Instead of using it to clean my face, I saved it. It was the only gift I've ever received, so I always carry it with me everywhere I go. I treasure it." _Why am I telling him all this? _I rubbed the back of my head and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, if it kinda bored you." I tucked the handkerchief back into my pocket.

Ace shook his head, adjusting the rabbit over the fire. "No, if anything, learning about the outsiders _interests _me. I'm surprised. Whenever Alice talked to me, she never mentioned you; the most she mentioned about your world was that she had to get back to her sister."

Disappointment came over me. It shouldn't have been a surprise to me. "Well, I can understand why she doesn't talk about me. When she turned 12, I was told that a servant shouldn't be friends with a lady coming of age. After that, we just kind of grew apart." I cleared my throat and went silent.

Ace didn't comment and I was kind of glad he didn't, I needed the silence. Ace took the spit off from over the fire. "The rabbit's done."

"That was fast."

"Well," he laughed, "I am a gourmet chef."

"Yeah, right."

"You're mean," he pouted.

I grinned. "Whoever said that I was nice person?" I playfully bumped my shoulder against his.

"Here," he held out the roasted rabbit to me, "you can have the first bite." I suddenly remembered how hungry I was. _When was the last time I ate?_ I laughed to myself as I took a bite of the warm juicy meat. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that you were right. I am like Julius. I forgot that I was hungry." I sweatdropped.

It was a soft laugh then it became full on snickering with the both of us. We finished the rabbit, and threw the spit in the fire.

"Aw, man, I'm stuffed." I leaned back on my elbows. It soon occurred to me that he was trying to cheer me up, and succeeded. I felt a warm blush spread over my cheeks. I never felt this relaxed around anyone before, even around Alice. _He sees me as an equal._ "Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks… for everything." I turned my head to look at him, only for my head to whip away. I felt a heavy blush rise on my cheeks. "What are you doing?!" Ace was without a shirt.

"Undressing."

I smacked my hand to my face. "Please, have some sort of decency and keep your clothes on."

"Relax, I'm keeping my pants on." He laughed.

I heavily sighed. "Why am I hanging around you again?"

"Because you're lost and you need me."

"Right… thanks for reminding me," I grumbled.

"Hey, are you going to come into the tent?"

"No, thank you."

"What? But I thought we were buddies."

"When did you ever get that into your mind? I'm not your 'buddy' nor am I your friend. I barely know you!"

He poked my cheek. "There's no need to be shy."

"You keep poking me; you're going to lose that finger."

He ceased from poking me, and went into the tent. I let out a sigh. _This was a long day._ Something heavy plopped down on my shoulders and I squeaked. "That's to keep you from freezing to death." I wrapped the blanket around myself. He went back into the tent.

"Thank you…"

* * *

**Please review!**

**Blake: Yes, please do... if you don't I'm afraid *looks over to Void, who's sharpening a knife* Miss Void will do something that she may regret.**

**Void: What was that, Blake?**

**Blake: N-nothing...!''**

**Ace: Don't worry Angel I'll protect you!**

**Blake: *grumbles* My name isn't Angel...**

**Void: Please review and let me know that you guys actually care about this story! Thank you.**


	3. Chapter III: Naptime Disturbances

**Here's Chapter 3! And I would like to give special thanks to the following people:**

**_FloraRose23_: Thanks for reviewing and following this story ^^ your words have inspired me to write more entertaining and awkward scenes.**

**_SadSvlad_: Thank you for also reviewing and following the story. I know it seems a little cheesy, but I'm trying my hardest to make it as unique as possible.**

**_Meadow Melody_: Thank you for favoriting. I hope one day you'll review ^^; I really would like to hear your thoughts on how you think the story's going so far.**

**_Allesandra_: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you think the story's great and that Blake's unique. I'm sure she'll like that. I hope you'll try to follow this story 'till the end.**

**Thank you so much guys! Now, Ace, the disclaimer!**

**Ace: *pouts* I don't wanna.**

**Void: *glaring* Do it.**

**Ace: Hmm... let me think about it...*puts a finger to his chin* Nah, don't feel like it.**

**Void: ...**

**Blake: Sir Ace, please?**

**Ace: Okay, Void does not own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice... QR does... Blake and any other OC you may find in this story is owned by Void... wait, I'm owned by someone?**

**Void: You'll do it for her, but not for me?**

**Ace: Well... you're not really cute...**

**Void: What'ja just say?! Come here and say that to my face! *starts getting into a fight with Ace, but Ace is just trolling her the entire time***

**Blake: *bows* Please, ignore them!**

* * *

_Chapter III: Naptime Disturbances and the Clocktower_

***Ace's POV***

Ace pushed aside the flap of the tent and let in the hot afternoon sun. He looked to the huddled form in front of the charred remains of the fire. "Angel?" The boy grunted. Ace knelt on the ground next to Blake and was a bit to see Blake's honey eyes locked on his. Dark rings circled his bloodshot eyes. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Can't. Stop. Itching." Blake kept scratching profusely at his splotched red neck. _Oh yeah, the poison ivy._

Ace smiled and forced Blake's hands away from his neck. "You should stop scratching then."

"Too much noise, last night. I heard the screams of ten different animals as they were killed."

Ace laughed amusedly. _Blake is not an outdoorsy person._ "We should get going if we plan on making it to the Clocktower in five period's time."

"_Five_ period's time? You're saying I have to go through this _hell_ for _five periods_." His eye was twitching. "How _exactly _big is this country?"

"I don't see what's so bad about it." Ace gave a lighthearted laugh. "After all, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey."

"Oh good Lord," he heard Blake mutter under his breath.

Ace just smiled, and packed up the tent. He started leading the 'way' to the Clocktower, which mostly just led to wandering aimlessly. It was quite amusing that the boy continued following, usually by this point people would give up and try to find their way on their own. The boy truly _was_ lost if he was still so willingly following Ace around. It was strange, but it felt easy to be around the boy. Unlike with Alice where he just felt jealousy and wanted to make her suffer like he did, with Blake… he didn't feel alone anymore.

Ace remembered all the scars he saw on Blake's back yesterday. He was shocked. Some of the scars looked as if they submitted some life-threatening damage to Blake. To be honest, Ace was surprised to see that Blake was able to stand without any problem.

"Angel?"

Blake let out a tired sigh. "When are you going to drop the pet name? I'm not an angel, and besides that's a nickname for a girl."

"I'm never going to drop the name. Now, show me your back." Blake immediately tensed up when he said that. It amused him so, he's never seen someone get so touchy… well, besides Alice that is. It was funnier because he was a boy.

"You don't need to see my back. I'm fine."

Ace crossed his arms. "Show me."

"No!" Blake moved away from Ace, but Ace was too quick for him. He started tugging on his collar.

"If you don't undress yourself, I'll do it for you." Ace gave a lighthearted threat. Blake tried pushing away from him, but his efforts were futile. Ace got his vest off him, before he could start unbuttoning his undershirt. Blake actually managed to shove him off.

"Stop it!" Blake wrapped his arms tightly around himself before collapsing to the ground on his knees. "J-just leave me alone," his voice cracked. He was shaking…from fear?

Ace felt a little twinge in his chest. Ace's eyes widened in shock, was he actually feeling guilty? Even when he caused Alice to cry, he didn't feel guilty he just smiled cruelly and enjoyed her pain. Was this boy actually… changing him? He spent countless days with Alice, hoping that she would change him and the most she would succeed in was amusing him. But he spent less than a day with this boy… and he already felt different? Ace ran a frustrated hand through his hair and turned his body away. "I'm sorry." His voice was so sincere it surprised himself.

Blake didn't move for a long time.

Ace felt something drop in his chest. "Blake?" It felt weird saying the kid's name on his tongue, it just didn't fit him no matter how much he tried to wrap his brain around it. Blake mumbled something, but Ace could barely hear her. "What was that?" Hope rose in his chest.

"You may look." He turned his back to Ace took off his shirt along with something else but Ace didn't get the chance to see it.

Fresh scars covered Blake's back. Ace couldn't believe his eyes. His back was completely healed! _How could anyone possibly heal that fast?_ He thought to himself, _It should've taken weeks to heal, not a single day!_ "Woah, it's healed." Ace came around to the boy's front and Blake held his clothes tighter to his chest. Ace checked the wound on his head, and it was healed as well.

"Are you going to call me a 'freak' yet?" Blake's honey eyes were clouded with sadness as he stared at the ground.

Ace smiled, lightly tapping Blake's cheek. "Nah, you're not a freak, you're special." _You were able to change me even if it was just a little bit,_ Ace thought.

Blake looked at Ace skeptically. "Special?"

"Yeah. I mean I wish I could heal as fast as you. It would be a huge help in 'training'."

Blake quirked an eyebrow at Ace. "Training?"

"Yep, it's fun to go—"

"Don't even tell me," he cut Ace off before he had a chance to explain. Ace just smiled in response. "Whatever, I'd just like to reach the Clocktower in the least amount of time as possible." Blake put his shirt back on, and Ace turned around to give him his 'privacy'. Blake retrieved his vest and frowned before putting it back on. "You dirtied my vest you better be willing to clean it once we reach the Clocktower." Ace smiled causing Blake to sigh. "You're probably going to ditch me as soon as we get there… Lead the way, Sir Knight," he spoke sarcastically.

"Yes, sir!" Ace mock saluted and went ahead grinning the whole time.

They both walked for hours upon hours. Blake would quip up a comment or two every now and then, but Ace has noticed he's been quiet for a while now.

Ace paused in walking and looked back to check on him. He was still behind him. Blake stood perfectly still. Ace shrugged to himself and started walking again. "Hey, Angel? You're pretty quiet. Is everything alright back there?" No answer. "Blake?" Still no answer. "Are you mad at me or something?" Silence. "Don't tell me you're angry about the whole vest thing!" Ace stopped and turned around to at him. Blake's hair was covering his eyes, so Ace couldn't see his expression.

Worry gripped at Ace's chest. He didn't know what he did wrong! He walked up to Blake. "Blake, I'm sorry. Please, tell me what I did wrong!" He didn't take the silent treatment too well. Even Alice did a horrible job at the silent treatment. He put a hand Blake's shoulder. "Blake—" Blake's head plopped against his chest. Soft breathing came from Blake and Ace was so shocked that Blake was leaning against him that it took him a few minutes to realize that Blake was asleep. _Blake was sleep-walking!_ He thought to himself. At least that explained why he wasn't responding to Ace, but how the hell did he know when to stop, when Ace stopped walking. _He must've had some serious 'servant training' to be able to do that,_ Ace sweatdropped to himself.

Ace picked Blake up bridal style and started carrying him through the story. _I guess he was really tired. _Ace came across a pretty big clearing with a giant oak in the middle the sun shone on the leaves turning them almost golden. Ace set Blake down against the tree and watched him sleep.

Blake had the lightest blonde hair he's ever seen. The hair shone so bright in the sunlight it was almost unearthly. Wisps of his hair softly flowed in the wind. The top of his hair had an almost feathery texture and look to it, and the bottom part became a bit wavy and curled a bit. He had a small, perfectly sloping nose. He had pale skin that was comparable to Nightmare's except Blake's was healthy looking, and had a pinkish tint to it. It was unfortunate Blake had so many scars, if he didn't have any scars, Ace was sure that his skin would be perfectly flawless. What he was enchanted by the most was Blake's eyelashes. Usually people had dark eyelashes, even Alice who was blonde had dark eyelashes, but Blake's were white.

Ace silently groaned to himself. Why did Blake have to be a guy?! And Blake was in love with Alice! Ace was jealous of the fact that Alice and Blake knew each other since they were little. But was he jealous that Blake had the upper hand with knowing Alice since he was little, or was he jealous because Alice already had Blake's heart in her grasp? He never had this problem before… being jealous, but not knowing what and who he was jealous of, and it was maddening!

Blake made a little noise and moved causing him to fall over. Ace quickly caught Blake's head before it smacked against the ground. That was a close call.

Ace watched Blake for a little while longer. _Screw it,_ he thought. He lay down next to Blake and wrapped his arms around his tiny waist. He pressed his ear against his chest. He thought for a moment about how Blake's chest did feel quite soft for being a male—it must've been all the shirts Blake was wearing—before he heard the soft steady beat of the heart.

'Ba-bump… Ba-bump… Ba-bump…'

Unlike Alice's erratic heart that made him all excited, Blake's was soft and calming… it was almost like the fluttering wings of a butterfly it was so quiet. He could feel himself being lulled to sleep by it. He resisted for a few moments, before he finally gave in…

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

I felt something warm wrapped around my body and pressed against my chest. My eyes fluttered open at the unexpected warmth. Short messy brown tickled my nose. _Short… messy brown… hair…?_ My eyes widened as I immediately recognized who it was. "Ace?" My face was turning extremely bright red. "Get off of me. Now."

"Wha…?" He blinked his red eyes up at me tiredly. _He looks… slightly adorable… Gah! Why the hell did I just think that?!_

"Get off!" I tried shoving him away, but he didn't budge.

"Five more minutes…"

"No! There will be no 'five more minutes'! Get off now."

He whined and buried his face into my neck.

I felt my eye twitch. _What time is it anyways? Are we ever going to make it to the Clocktower?!_ "That's right, Ace, keep rubbing your pretty face all over my neck." I felt him freeze next to me, probably not expecting me to say that. I smirked. "I hope you get poison ivy all over it by the next period." Within seconds he was off of me. _Hah, serves him right!_

His red eyes were wide as he stared at me.

"What?"

He quickly looked away and small blush crossed his cheeks. _What the-? What?! What's that supposed to mean!?_ I narrowed my eyes at him. He avoided my gaze. _Okay… Ace is acting… weirder._ Suddenly a smirk crossed his face.

"What?!" I was getting anxiety from not knowing what Ace was planning whatever it was, he better—

"Your heartbeat is so much more calming than Alice's." My cheeks slightly tinged pink, but the pink quickly disappeared when he compared me to Alice.

"What did you just say?"

"I just said that 'you're heartbeat is—"

"No, not that," my eyes narrowed threateningly, "did you just say that you listened to Miss Alice's heartbeat?"

He looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. "Yeah."

"So that means you put your head against her _chest_."

"Yep."

"Did you have her permission to do so?" I asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"Not really."

I cracked my fist against the side of his jaw.

It was quiet for a few seconds as Ace stared at me with wide red eyes and a hand over his now bruising cheek. _Owww…._ I held my hand in pain. _His face was harder than it looked._ Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, but the satisfaction of seeing his smug expression was worth a broken hand.

"You never touch a lady's chest without her permission!" I said that partially for my own sake, but he didn't need to know that. "Especially Miss Alice's chest! Understand?"

Ace nodded his head like a kid while still cradling his jaw.

"Good, boy." I patted him on the head, with my good hand, like a dog and stood up. "Now, let's get to the Clock Tower. No more wandering around in circles."

Ace stood up behind me and attempted to hold my hand like a child who needs his mother. I smacked his hand away. "And you call me a 'kid'."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

We finally made it to the Clocktower! I was so happy I was on the verge tears. It didn't take long for me to realize that Ace was leading us in circles, eventually forcing me to take the lead (even though I had no idea where to go!), and we finally got here in a matter of about seven periods. Ugh.

"Honey, I'm home~!" Ace sang as he opened the door and stepped into an average sized room. _Honey? I thought Julius was a guy._ I moved in quietly after him. The light in the room was dim and the ticking of clocks hanging on the walls could be heard.

Clanking from across the room paused. "Ace… you're finally back…" a smooth, mature voice spoke evenly across the room. A broad-shouldered man sat behind an average-sized desk made of steel. He didn't even bother to look up to see who entered. _Looks like he's been expecting Ace…_

"Yep! And I got you some more goodies!" Ace grinned and dumped the bag of clocks on the man's desk.

The man let out an exasperated sigh, before going back to work on a small clock. His rectangular glasses shone from the desk light placed on the corner of his table.

Ace just stood there grinning like a maniac.

The man let out another sigh. "What is it that you want, Ace?" He took off his glasses and finally looked up. His gaze was on Ace then suddenly his eyes were locked with mine. I felt a little gasp suck into myself and I froze. This man, this Julius person, was handsome! I know I already said that about Ace, but Ace is the young handsome… this guy is the dark, mysterious, mature kind of handsome. _Damn, don't tell me this world is filled with handsome, good-looking men._ His gaze wandered away from mine and looked back to Ace. "Ace? I don't have time for this. Why is this child here?" I'm just about sick of people referring to me as a child.

"Well, you see, I found him in the middle of a fight with the faceless. And he was lost. So I brought him here to—"

"You brought him here thinking that I would take care of him? I'm very busy. I don't have the time to babysit a child." Okay, now that stung a bit. "Now leave me to my work. And take the boy with you."

Ace crossed his arms behind his head. "Come on, you have to be like that? Take a break already."

I softly stepped forward so I was standing two feet away from the front of his desk. Ace moved aside and gave me a confused expression. Julius looked up at me in slight curiosity. "You're name is Julius. Am I correct, sir?"

He silently regarded me for a few seconds, before saying, "Yes, I am."

I bowed to him. "I'm terribly sorry for wasting your time, Mr. Julius. Sir Ace, here," I shot Ace a glare, "told me that you would be willing to take me in, but I suppose… he was wrong." I looked up at him to see if he was still listening, he was. "I don't mean to force myself into your residence or anything; I don't intend to stay long. All I ask is to stay the night and I'll be off in the morning. Just please… if I'm forced to spend another day with this psychopath," my eye twitched, "I will lose the last strings of sanity I have left." I bowed to him again, this time even deeper than before. "Please!" I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Wha?! But Ange—brrrrggrrrhhmmm!"

I smashed the palm of my hand against Ace's face. "Do not! Call me that forsaken name, again!"

"But it's not forsaken, it's—"

"Ace, just please be quiet." I rubbed my fingers against my temples. "Just hearing your voice is giving me a headache."

"How could you?!" Ace started walking towards me with his arms held wide upon. "I thought we were friends!" _No, he better not dare try hugging me!_ His creepy smile looked like it came straight from a horror novel—not that I read those of course!

Julius suddenly stood up from his table; his face was covered in shadow. _Oh, crap. I think we made him mad._ He strode right over to Ace and I grabbing us by the shoulders. "The two of you are leaving immediately."

* * *

**Haha, Blake's getting a little fed up with Ace. Can't blame her though, her delicate servant body isn't adjusted to the tough, cruel terrain of the outdoors.**

**Please review or else Ace will never see Blake again!**

**Ace: Wait, WHAT? That's not fair!**

**Void: Yes, it is fair. It's simple if they don't inspire me, by sending me suggestions or compliments or anything else they might have up their sleeve, I may not be inspired to write much more. Meaning _you_ will never see Blake again.**

**Ace: ... Review... *Ace smiles* or I may have to kill all of-**

**Blake: Sir Ace, please don't threaten the audience, if you kill them, they can't review. *mumbles* That and we'll all be thrown into prison for God knows how long.**

**Ace: *lowers his sword tip to the ground* But...**

**Blake: No, buts!**

**Ace: *looks dejectedly at the ground* Okay...**

**Void: If you don't want to see Ace cry, review...**


	4. Chapter IV: The Clockmaker

**Okay, here's Chapter 4!**

**I wanna say special thanks to _Meadow Melody_ for both reviewing and following both the story and me as a writer (I don't think I'll be writing any new stories until I'm done with this one though, but thank you nonetheless). I'm glad you love the story. ^^**

**Now Julius! Say the disclaimer!**

**Julius: *sighs* Void does not own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice, QuinRose owns it. I would be damned if Void did.**

**Void: What's that supposed to mean? *pouting***

**Julius: You know exactly what I'm talking about.**

**Void: ...On with the story!**

* * *

_Chapter IV: _ _The Clockmaker_

Ace was the first one to be thrown out of the room. My face paled at this man's strength. _He's able to just toss Ace as if he were a stuffed toy._ I could feel him ready to throw me as well, but I latched onto his arm with both of my hands preventing him from throwing me. "Please, sir! I beg of you! I'm sorry; I'll leave you to your work! I won't bother you, I promise!" I looked up into his deep blue eyes. "Please…"

His eyes glanced away from me and softened faintly. "…Alright." He closed the door and locked it, preventing Ace from getting back in. My gut squeezed at the prospect of being locked inside a room with a stranger I just met. He let go of me. "You may stay, but you will keep to your promise."

"Y-yes, of course."

"Hey!" Ace banged on the other side of the door. "You cheated! You can't hog Angel all to yourself, Julius!" I sweatdropped at Ace's futile attempts to get through the door; I could see Ace's hand appear at the bottom of the door appearing through the crack. Julius mercilessly stepped on Ace's hand; I winced that looked like it hurt a lot. "Ow! That hurt, Julius!" His hand retreated immediately. "I'll be back. I swear I will!" I felt a little bad for Ace.

"I'm sure you will," Julius sarcastically replied. He then turned to me expectantly.

I jolted with realization. "Oh, forgive me for my rudeness, my name is Blake." I graciously bowed to him. "And I assume you have a last name as well?"

"Monrey. My last name is Monrey."

"Well, Mr. Monrey, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

He stared at me with this puzzled look in his eyes. Suddenly I felt self-conscious of my appearance; I could feel the grit of dirt in my hair and on my skin. _I can't even remember the last time I bathed…ewwww. I must look really gross._ "You're an outsider."

"Ah, um, yes, I suppose. That's what Sir Ace kept calling me, when I first met him…" I looked to the side. "I have an important question to ask, if that's okay with you, sir."

"Go on."

"Do you by any chance know of anyone by the name of Alice Liddell?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously at me. "I-it's just that she's gone missing from where I come from. A-and her family is worried about her."

"What is your relationship with her?"

"My relationship?" I was confused for a second. "I don't have a relationship with Miss Alice. I'm just a lowly servant of the Liddell family." He seemed somewhat… relieved. "Do you possibly know where she could be?"

He sat behind his desk. "Last I heard from her, she said that she was going to the Hatter Residence. No guarantees she'll still be there, she moves from place to place often." _Huh, that's what Ace said too. I guess I'll have to somehow find this 'Hatter Residence' tomorrow. Well, I guess it sounds like a pleasant place to stay._

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

I felt the greatest I've felt in a long time. I was freshly bathed, and wearing some of Julius's spare clothing. His clothes were so humongous on me even when I adjusted them they were still loose on me. I cleaned my soiled clothes to the best of my abilities, but my efforts were unable to save my white undershirt and shoes. The blood wouldn't come out and the dress shoes were not made for 'hiking' whatsoever. I was a little upset, it was new uniform given to all of the servants and I already destroyed it, and my remaining clothes were hang-drying in the wash room.

I turned my attention back down to the large manual on clocks in my lap. I was curled up on the sofa on the far right side of Julius's office. It was hard to read in the dim light of the room, and finally I gave up trying to read it, I shut it closed. It was still evening from what I could see through the windows. It was evening when I arrived with Ace. _This sure is one long period_. My head shook in realization. _Wait! I'm already growing used to this world! Noooo!_ Dramatic tears poured down my cheeks. Soon enough I'll be just as insane as any other person in this God forsaken land.

I looked over to where Julius still sat. He hasn't taken a break yet, not even once. Usually I would suggest that he should take a small break and relax like I would with one of my masters, but I promised that I would not bother him, and I will keep to my promise.

My stomach let out a huge growl, embarrassment rose to my face. I glanced at Julius to see if he heard it, but it didn't even faze him and he continued working as if nothing happened. I placed the book on the coffee table in front of me and strode over to the door. I unlocked and opened it. I turned to look at Julius again to see if he heard, but he was still at work. I felt myself frown. _He's really absorbed into his work. He reminds me a lot of Lord Liddell._ A flash of Lord Liddell looming over me went through my mind. My grip on the doorknob tightened. I took deep breaths to calm myself. _Now's not the time for self-pity._

I remembered Ace telling me how Julius would often forget about eating. It must be related to his complete disregard of his surroundings while he was working. Concern for his health stirred in my head. _Why should I be concerned? I don't know him. _Even so, duty took over. Mr. Monrey was kind enough to let me stay in his home, the least I could do was cook him a well-nutritional supper.

I wandered down the hallway going from door to door till I finally found the kitchen. I opened one of the cabinets, and a mouse scurried out. The cabinet was filled with expired foods and chewed up bags, courtesy of the mice. "Oh, dear…"

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

A tap in front of him distracted him from the clock he was working on. He glanced up and his eyes met with the honey gold eyes of Blake.

"So sorry to disturb you, sir," Blake swallowed, "but I thought that maybe you should take a break and eat supper." On his desk, Blake placed a tray with various foods and a cup of coffee. Blake took a few steps back, bowed, and returned to his previous place on the sofa.

Julius didn't know what to make of the boy. He was quiet, well, except when Ace riled him up, but Ace does that to everyone. He also didn't go poking around in Julius's business which Julius appreciated… a lot. Best of all, he didn't bother Julius pouring out all the problems that were going on with his life. Julius did not like being treated like everyone's personal therapist.

Julius tried going back to working on the clocks, but he couldn't resist the temptation of the buttery smell coming before him, especially the deep aroma of the coffee. _Maybe a small break wouldn't hurt,_ he thought to himself, as he cleared a spot on his desk to put the tray in front of him. He ate the food quietly contemplating. A creamy broth of some sort was poured over linguine. Parsley leaves were carefully placed on top. A small loaf of bread was positioned next to the bowl of noodles. He frowned. "I wasn't aware that there was bread in the cupboards." Blake perked up in surprise from the couch, and Julius was a little surprised at himself that he initiated a conversation.

"Oh, no there wasn't. I baked the bread myself." He pointed at his temple. "Secret recipe."

Julius broke open the bread revealing its soft wheat insides. He could smell the pungent aroma of rosemary.

Blake turned his attention back to his food. "Also, I thought you may want to be informed, your kitchen is infested with mice. You may want to hire an exterminator or at least purchase some traps, sir."

Julius let out an exhausted sigh. He got rid of them last week and the vermin were back already! This is what he gets for refusing to hire any staff. He took a sip from the coffee in the mug, he felt his eyes widen. He looked back down at his mug to see if he wasn't hallucinating. This was the richest tasting coffee he's ever drank. The hot liquid was perfect, warm enough to melt his insides, and yet not too hot to where it would burn off his taste buds. The velvet liquid caressed his throat and stimulated his brain. But there was only problem with the coffee, cream. He did not like cream being added to his coffee at all. It ruins the taste. "Seventy-six points," he lied, surprising himself. There was no way the coffee was that bad. The true score was ninety-two, but for some reason he just couldn't help, but lie.

"What?"

"The coffee. Seventy-five points."

"Oh…" Blake looked down into his own coffee mug. "It's the cream isn't it?" he was right on the money. "I'm sorry, I should've known. I didn't mean to displease you."

This had to be the most courteous boy he's ever met. "It's fine." He felt slightly guilty for upsetting the boy with his picky tastes.

"Next time I'll do better, I promise." Blake paused for a second. "That is, if you'll allow a second time." Julius didn't give Blake an answer, and just went back to eating. He could feel disappointment leak into the air from Blake. Julius sighed.

"Fine…"

Blake's eyes shone with excitement. "Thank you so much. I'll do my best, Mr. Monrey!" For some reason something inside of Julius squirmed when Blake said his name like that. Julius could easily mistake Blake for a girl his voice was so soft, so _feminine_. Maybe Ace _was_ right, he was getting too soft.

He finished up the meal, which was splendid. The noodles and sauce were filling and yet light enough to digest without any problems. And the bread with a thin hard crust and soft inside was just something else. He caught himself almost about to doze off, but he quickly shook himself awake. He couldn't allow himself the luxury of sleep there was just too much work to do.

He hadn't heard from Blake in a while so he glanced up to check on him. Blake was passed out on the couch. Julius went over to the side of the couch. Blake was curled up on his side like a cat. _Passed out from his own cooking, _Julius thought amusedly to himself. He contemplated whether or not to leave the boy on the couch. Eventually his kindness won out and he picked the boy up bridal style. _He's surprisingly light._ He carried Blake to his bedroom and tucked Blake into bed.

Asleep Blake looked even more like a girl. His hair fanned out onto the pillow like the wings of a bird. His thick eyelashes fluttered just the slightest. Julius's face turned red when he realized he was staring way too intimately at the boy. He covered his face with his hand, and groaned. He better not be turning into some sort of creepy pervert. He immediately vacated the room to get away from the sleeping boy as quickly as possible. _It must be because he's an outsider, everyone loves an outsider. _Wait, he just admitted he was attracted to the boy… _I really need to get back to work._ He fixated his whole concentration back onto his clocks. This was what happened when he didn't work, he got easily distracted by… things.

After a few minutes or so at work, Julius completely forgot about the weird feelings. So it was just in his head after all…

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

Sunlight filtered through the curtains in the window and hit me in my eyes. I grunted and rolled over hugging a soft pillow. I smiled into it. All the hiking around in the woods with Ace pulled out a few muscles I'm pretty sure, my body wasn't accustomed to living outdoors. Unlike cut wounds, it took way longer to heal pulled muscles. _It feels so good to finally be in a bed again…_ My eyes blinked wide open. _Wait, bed!_ I sat up. The sheets pooled onto my lap. _When did I get here?!_

I tossed the sheets aside and hopped off the bed. I was about to open the door before my servant 'duties' kicked in and I neatly made the bed _then_ opened the door.

Julius was sitting at his desk working on the giant of pile clocks that seemed to never end. He glanced up at me.

_Think of something to say. Think of something to say. _"Um, hi." _Wow, that was so lame._

"I see that you're finally awake."

"Uh," I stood at the door awkwardly, "how long was I…?"

"Two whole periods."

"What?!" He dropped his screwdriver from my sudden outburst and glared at me. "S-sorry… i-it's just," I covered my face, "I didn't realize I was out for that long." Another realization hit me; I was sleeping in his bed this whole time. That means he didn't have anywhere else to sleep! "I'm so, so sorry! I shouldn't have slept in your—how rude of me!"

"It's fine. I had to concentrate on work nonetheless, sleeping would have set me back from my work."

My jaw dropped. So he didn't sleep one wink this whole time! This guy is pretty dedicated to his work; I respect him. "Well, I overstayed my time either way." I bowed. "I'll be taking my leave now." I was already dressed in my previous servant clothes (including my torn up leather shoes and stained undershirt). "Thank you for housing me, Mr. Monrey." I heard his chair slide away from his desk and his footsteps as he stood in front of me. I craned my head to look confusedly up at him. _He's taller than Ace!_ He took my hand and turned it so the palm faced up, placing a small change purse in it. It felt pretty hefty. My face heated up. "Oh, no, I can't accept this." I tried giving it back to him, but he moved away.

"Use it to buy what you need. It'll be hard surviving in this world without any money." His blue eyes stayed locked with mine. I swallowed.

"I understand, sir."

"Good." I put the purse inside my vest's hidden pocket. This didn't feel right, having everything handed out to me. I took out my silver pocket-watch and placed in his hand.

"Then you hold onto this," I closed his hand over it, "when I pay off my debt to you, return it to me." I went over to the door, turning the knob; I took one more look back at Julius. "Fairfarren, Mr. Monrey."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

After Blake left Julius looked at what Blake placed in his hand. It was a silver pocket-watch. On the top of the lid a crest was carved into it, the crest of an owl with a scroll in its talons. _So that's the crest of the Liddell family…_ He clicked a button in the side causing it to open. Underneath the flawless glass, its tiny gold hands ticked away, and the background was a glossy pinkish white. _Seashell, perhaps?_ He tucked the watch into his overcoat. The boy took marvelous care of it; there wasn't a scratch on it. _He must care about it a lot._

"_When I pay off my debt to you, return it to me."_ The words from the boy rang in his head. It felt strange that the boy trusted him enough with it to not lose it. Or maybe even the boy saw that maybe since Julius worked on clocks that Julius would be appeased until he returned. Either way, he wouldn't know until the boy returned.

Julius sighed and sat down at his desk. He had no idea why people trusted him so much.

"JULIUS!" His door slammed open.

Julius almost jumped out of his skin. "Ace?" He was standing; his hand was on the back of his chair to prevent himself from falling. "Why are you back so soon?" This was shocking; he thought he wouldn't see Ace again for at least another four periods. No, he wasn't ready for anymore clocks! He still hasn't even gotten to the last batch Ace gave him.

Ace was looking around his room. "Oh, I was trying to leave the Clock Tower Plaza, but I lost my way…" Julius sweatdropped. Ace looked at Julius. "Say Julius… where's Angel at?" Julius raised an eyebrow.

"Angel?" To be honest he shouldn't be surprised at the pet name Ace already gave to the boy, but Angel? Couldn't he have come up with something better? …Not that he cared.

"Blake, where is he?"

"You just missed him. He left a few moments ago." Julius pointed to the door. "You didn't see him on your way out?"

Ace gave Julius a playful glare. "Oh, just a moment ago? I thought he was only allowed to stay for one period."

"He was asleep, and he wouldn't wake up, so I let him be." Julius attempted to defend himself.

"Aw, Julius you're so soft. Where did you let him sleep at?"

"In the bed." Julius wanted to smack himself when he let that slip out, now Ace is going to be teasing him nonstop.

"Oh, really… _your_ bed." Ace smiled, he knew there was only one bed in the Clock Tower and that was Julius's. "So, did you sleep with him?"

"Of course not! Why would I sleep with the young boy?!"

"Oh, you know…" Julius was just about ready to throw his wrench at Ace, when Ace asked, "Where did he go? Did he tell you?" Julius lowered the wrench and sighed.

"He asked me where Alice Liddell was, and I told him the Hatter Residence, so I assume the boy went there."

"What?! The Hatters, you sent him _alone_!"

"Yes…" Julius was surprised to see that Ace didn't have a smile on his face for once. "He's an outsider, I'm sure he'll be fine. If Alice survived, I'm sure he can." Julius tried to calm Ace.

"But Alice is a girl! Blake's a boy! And if he goes around asking for Alice at the Hatters, Blood isn't going to like that one bit." Julius had to admit, Ace did have a point. He didn't like the idea of abandoning his work to go save some stupid boy, but…

"Alright, let's go."

Blake's debt to him just doubled.

* * *

**Oohhh, Blake's getting herself into deep twouble, and doesn't even know it!**

**Blake: Trouble? What trouble? Did I offend someone?! If so I humbly apologize! I didn't mean it!**

**Void: *Patting Blake on the shoulder* Blake, Blake... you have no idea how awkward this chapter is do you?**

**Blake: What do you mean?**

**Void: This chapter was so horrible because I had to write about two socially-impaired characters!**

**Julius: You know I can hear you right?**

**Void: Yep, just please next time you guys try to act just a teeny bit more social. I couldn't direct you guys correctly, and it turned out so booorrrinnnngg.**

**Blake: I-I'm sorry. I'll try harder next time.**

**Void: Good girl! I'm sure you will. Now please review guys, if you don't want Blake to die in the next chapter.**

**Blake: Yes, please review, your reviews make Miss Void really happy-wait! Did you just say that I was going to die!?**

**Void: *Checking watch* Yep.**

**Blake: B-but..!**

**Void: Don't worry I'm sure they'll review if they cared enough about ya. But with this boring stunt with Julius I'm not so sure anymore...**

**Blake: Noooooooooo!**


	5. Chapter V: The Twin's Game

**I have much more interesting chapter here, folks!**

**I would like to thank the following people:**

_**Meadow**_**_ Melody_: Thanks for all the reviews! You're everlasting support is much appreciated :D Please, keep an eye on me and make sure I don't start writing stupid stuff XD Once again Thank you so much. I hope this story will become one of your most favoritest favorites (ok, now that was horrible grammar)**

**_LuNaLoVeComiCs_: Thank you for following this story and favoriting both this story and me as an author. I'm glad I caught your attention :) Please review in the future.**

**_FloraRose23_: Thanks for the review! Haha, I hope I will be able to make you happy~! Please continue following this story. I'm willing to hear any ideas you have, I'll happily comply somehow, not exactly, but you may see them in future chapters~! ^^**

**Blake: Miss Void, if people reviewed does that mean I live?**

**Void: ...**

**Blake: Miss Void? *scared***

**Void: I don't own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice (is there an easier way to say this or at least shorten it?!), QR does, but I _completely_ own Blake. She is _mine_.**

**Blake: *shivers* What's going to happen to me in this chapter?**

**Void: ... Read on! My fellow warriors and knights!**

* * *

_Chapter V: The Twin's Game_

***Blake's POV***

The bell jingled as I left the small cloth shop. I felt like a completely brand new person. My clothes were steam pressed, and I wore a brand new white undershirt with polished, cherry wood buttons on the cuffs and I purchased a brand new set of black leather riding boots with silver buckles, throwing out my old worn out shoes. I also purchased deep blue tie that I tucked under my vest of which all the tears were professionally sewed back together. (I could've sewn it myself, but I didn't have the patience to, I was too excited to see Alice.) Thin black leather gloves were adorned on my wrists.

I spent so much already and I still had money to spare. _I'll find a way to pay Mr. Monrey off, I'm sure of it!_

I strolled happily down the street whistling some random mantra I've heard in Lord Liddell's study. The citizens here were quite kind to me; I still didn't understand why they were called faceless. I could see their faces, and they all had their own unique personality. So far the only role-holders I met so far were Ace and Julius. _I wonder if there are any more of them…_

I smiled to myself. _The Hatter Residence… I wonder if they make hats… probably, I wonder if I can get myself one. I would love to have one._ I tapped my chin as I thought of all the different types of hats there were.

A shadow crossed my vision. _Huh?_ My eyes followed movement in the bushes not too far from where I was standing. _Hm?_ I tilted my head and went over to investigate. I pushed aside the branches of the shrubs and stepped forward. A dead body covered in blood laid on the ground several paces in front of me. A rank stench hit my nose. I covered my mouth. _Oh, God…_ Who knows how long that person's been killed for…? Worse yet I couldn't even tell the gender the body was mutilated so badly. _There's no way a human did this…_ The body shone white before shrinking into a small clock. _So this is what happens if someone in this world dies…_ Suddenly I realized Julius didn't tell me anything. _Ugh, Ace promised me that Julius would explain everything!_

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the shadow again. I looked. A shadowy person was standing next to me. "Ack!" I jumped back. More and more shadows appeared surrounding the body. _What are those things? Ghosts?!_ They looked like they came straight out of a ghost novel… not that I read those, of course. _Do they have something to do with the clock…?_ I looked at the broken clock that lay still on the ground. _Ace collects these for Julius… and Julius is a Clockmaker, he fixes clocks… he fixes the people…_ My eyes widened in realization, my head whipped around to stare at one of the shadows. _So does that mean these shadows are waiting for the clock to be fixed? So that they could have a body again perhaps? _I wished Julius explained this to me, or at least Ace.

I stepped forward towards the clock. I should at least collect the clock and give it to Ace or Julius. I became queasy as I reached my hand towards it. Suddenly, an excited humming went through my body.

"_Are you going to save us?" _a whisper went through my head. My head snapped up. One of the shadows was right next to me, watching me. _Uh, did that thing just speak to me?_ It grabbed me by the shoulders. _"You save us, yes?"_ It can touch me. My face paled. That means it can hurt me.

"_Save us?"_

"_Savior?"_

"_She's our savior!"_

"_Savior!"_

They all were murmuring around me their voices soft, but high-pitched. The shadows grip on me tightened painfully. "Ow!" I shoved it away and grabbed the clock, running.

"_No, come back!"_

"_Free us!"_

I ran as far as I could before collapsing onto my knees. _That was close… what the hell were those things?! _I breathed heavily, my heart pounding in my chest. _What did they mean by 'savior'? Or did they say that to anyone who picked up a clock?_ I shook my head to clear it and stood up. What I needed to concentrate on was finding Alice, and then I'll concentrate on this… predicament.

Up ahead, I saw a giant gate ahead guarded by two figures. I straightened my tie and walked forward with all the grace I could hope to have. As I got closer I could see that the guards were kids, or twins to be more precise. They were completely identical except for their eyes and uniforms. One had red eyes and a red uniform, and the other had blue eyes and a blue—well, you get the gist of it.

"Hey, brother, we got company!" One of them spoke out loud.

_Strange that the gatekeepers are just children, then again I've seen stranger things in this land…_ I put up the friendliest smile I could. "Hello, sirs. By any chance, could this be the Hatter Residence?" I spotted a massive mansion through the gate. _It's bigger than the Liddell manor!_

They glanced at each other, before answering. "Yeah, 'an who wants to know?

"Well, I was wondering if there was a Miss Alice Liddell here by any chance."

They readied their gigantic axes in front of them aggressively.

"What do ya want with Big Sis'?" said the red one.

"Yeah! Like we're gonna tell a stranger where Big Sis' is!"

I held up my hands in defense. "There's no need to get rash here." I explained to them that I was a servant to Alice and I needed to bring her back home.

Their faces darkened for a few moments, before glaring menacingly at me. I felt myself laugh nervously.

"We won't let ya take Big Sis'!" Before I knew it, the blue one took a swing at me with his axe. I dodged it narrowly falling back on bum. I felt blood trickle down my forehead. _They just tried to kill me… Kids just tried to kill me!_ My whole body trembled, sweat dribbled down the back of my neck.

"Let's cut 'im up, brother!"

"Nah, that'll be too borin', Dum!" the blue one wagged a finger at me, and winked, "Let's play a game!"

"Ooh, what kinda game, Dee?"

"We'll play tag! If ya can avoid us, we'll tell you where Big Sis' is; if ya can't," he smiled, "we'll have fun playin' with ya! 'Kay?"

A chill went down my spine. "So if I can avoid you for… a half an hour, you'll tell me where Miss Alice is?" I asked hopefully.

"Boo!" said the red one, "We keep playin' till we feel like stoppin', ain't that right, brother?

"Yuuup! Just try to run reaaaaal fast 'cause we'll get bored real quick if we kill you too soon."

I rolled out of the way as an axe just smashed where I was just sitting. _Holy crap, they're actually trying to kill me!_ I started sprinting for my life. Guilt flooded through me. _I'm sorry, Ace! I'm sorry for calling you a psychopath (even though you are one); at least you didn't try to kill me. Not like these mentally disturbed children! I can't even picture what they're going to turn out as adults._ Wow, I actually missed Ace that's a surprise.

"He's gettin' away!" I could hear them laughing behind me.

I never ran so much like this in my life, before. Sure, when I was working at the manor, my duties would send me to and fro' the house, but I never had to actually 'sprint'. I could feel my lungs burning from the exertion. _Why the hell didn't Julius warn me that the Hatter Residence had two sociopaths guarding the gate!?_ I glanced behind to see if they were still following me. I saw only the blue one. That could only mean—

I ducked my head and slid across the ground just as an axe swept above my head.

"Darn it, I missed!"

Sweat profusely dampened my hair and clothes. _He almost beheaded me!_ If I thought the whole thing with the ghosts were scary, I was wrong, this was way more terrifying!

I scanned the forest on my left. If I went in there, I could find a place to hide. _Then I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on where the twins were at, but at the same time they wouldn't be able to see me either._ It was a risk, but it was a risk I would have to take. As long as I stayed in the open they could see me, plus they were better runners than me and would eventually catch me.

I charged straight into the underbrush ignoring all the thorns and branches tearing through my clothes and at my skin. Blood ran into my vision, momentarily blinding me as I wiped the red out of my eyes. It was a shallow cut, thank God, but head wounds sure do bleed out a lot.

"He's goin' into tha woods brother!"

I could hear them crashing through the undergrowth behind me. Quickly I hid behind a tree. They were loud as they stepped on twigs and leaves on the forest floor. "Where'd he go, brother?" I could hear their footsteps getting closer.

"This ain't part of the game!" I could hear one of them call out, "You're cheatin'! You're playin' the wrong game!"

"We're playin' 'tag' not 'hide-'n-go-seek'!"

Their footsteps were so close before they were stopped by a voice. "What the hell are the both of you doing?"

"We're chasin' out an intruder!"

"Yeah! He wanted to take Big Sis' away!"

I peeked from behind the tree I was at to see what was going on. I saw a tall, long blonde-haired man wearing a large overcoat with a violet scarf standing in front of the twins. And he had… bunny ears!? _What the hell…_ Those had to be fake, even so, why the hell would a grown man want to wear bunny ears!? "He wanted to take Alice away? Really?" My hands squeezed themselves into fists. I didn't like the way how this man talked about Alice so informally. _Now that I think about it Ace and Julius were the same way…_

"Yup! So, me and Dum decided to play with 'im for a bit."

The bunny-eared man crossed his arms. "And where exactly is this 'intruder'?"

"He's out here in the woods somewhere!"

"… That's it! You brats are going home!" He grabbed them both by the back of their uniforms.

"Boo!"

"Let go of us, chicken-blonde bunny!" I almost burst out laughing at the nickname they gave the bunny-eared man.

"Shut up and get back to the gate, or you'll get your pay cut!"

They protested a bit, calling the bunny-eared man names, but eventually complied following him. I let out an audible sigh of relief. The bunny-eared man's, well, ear twitched. _Wait, they can move!?_ He pointed a pistol in my direction and fired.

I froze. My eyes zeroed in on a singed piece of my hair fluttering to the ground. My face paled. _I'm gonna die…!_

"Ooh, you found him, chicken-blonde bunny!"

"Come out 'an play~!"

I could hear them quickly approaching the place where I was hiding. I could try to play dumb and hopefully the bunny-eared man will let me go (which he'll probably kill me like he almost just did), or I could run. I chose the latter.

"There he is!"

"Get 'im!"

I could hear gunfire bounce off the trees around me and every so often they would graze my arm. _Crap! This guy has good aim; if I keep running in a straight line he'll be sure to hit me!_ I started zig-zagging.

"Dammit!" I could hear the frustration in the bunny-eared man's voice. "Stop. Moving!" _Like hell I will!_

I twisted and turned my way around the trees and bushes. I spotted a tree with low, but sturdy branches ahead and started climbing it as fast as I could. I hid myself deep within its branches. _Thank the Lord; I'm wearing mostly dark clothing._ I gripped onto the main trunk and tried not to make any movements. I tried to keep my heavy breathing down to a minimum.

"Who are we hiding from?" Someone whispered beside me. I froze. I slowly turned my head. Balancing on the branch next to me was a pink haired wearing a black punkish looking outfit with zippers and collars placed all over it. _Those clothes are inappropriate; one should not wear such things in public. _Then I noticed his cat ears and yellow cat eyes. _What… is he?_ He tilted his head as I stared at him.

Just at that moment my pursuers burst into the clearing below me. "Darn! He disappeared again!"

"Oh!" Cat-boy decided to pipe up at that moment, "Are we playing 'hide-and-see—mmphhhfff!" I covered his mouth with my hand. Sweat dripped down my face. _Please tell me they didn't hear that._

"What was that noise?" _Aw, shit!_ "It sounded like it came from over here…" The red twin walked right under the tree I was hiding in. Suddenly I was highly aware that cat-boy's hair was a vivid pink as well as the giant fur scarf he kept around his shoulders, which meant if they looked up in the branches they could easily spot me. _Curse my luck!_ The red twin's—I think his name was Dum—gaze wandered up the tree trunk. _Please, just stop looking up! _Just about as he was about to see us, his brother called him over.

"Hey, Dum, check this out!" Dee was rifling through the bushes, and pulled out a white handkerchief—_my_ handkerchief. I quickly checked my front pocket to see if it was still there. It wasn't. _I must've dropped it, while I was running._

"Do ya think it was the intruder's?"

"Who cares?!" He whirled it around carelessly in his hand, wrinkling it. I grit my teeth in anger. "It's ours now!"

"Give it to me, brother!" Dum closely looked at it. "Haha, it has roses on it! What a girl!" I felt my face heat up at that statement. _Those little brats, how dare they desecrate my treasure from Miss Alice!_

"Play time's over, brats." The bunny-eared man spoke up waving his gun around casually. "The intruder's gone. You're getting your pay _and_ vacation cut for wasting my time and bullets."

"Boo! That's not fair!"

"We were doing our job!"

"No, you weren't doing your job! If you were doing your job, you would both be at the gate right now." He dragged the whining twins away. This time I refused to move an inch or even breathe, until I couldn't hear their shuffling feet anymore. Teeth bit down hard into my hand.

"Ow!" I immediately released my hand from cat-boy's mouth and inspected it. Two deep canine imprints were left as a mark. I frowned. "That hurt…"

"You almost killed me!" Cat-boy hissed at me. He was breathing heavily and his face was almost blue. _Oh, I must've almost suffocated him._

"Oh," I rubbed the back of my head, "I apologize about that."

He glared at me. "If you were really sorry, you would be more sympathetic."

"You're right, I would be." He hissed at me again. I held up my hands in defense. "Hey, hey, you almost gave away my position."

"Position? Hey, why were you running and hiding from Elliot, and Dee and Dum anyway?"

"Wait, you know who they are?!"

"Yeah, Dee and Dum are my friends…" I immediately put as much distance I could between us on the branch. _He's friends with those crazies!?_

"Um, I should be going now," I dropped down from the tree branch and dropped down heavily onto the forest floor. _Ow…_ Dizziness caused me to stumble forward a few steps, but I caught myself. I wiped at the blood on my forehead again, my wound was already healing.

Cat-boy landed lightly on the ground next to me. "Where are you going?"

"I-I, um," I looked around at the dense forest surrounding us, "I-I'm going to… I…" Where was there to go? For all I knew, Alice could've already left the Hatter's Residence and could be somewhere else. And the twins had my treasure—which I _had_ to get back no matter _what_—but it was way too dangerous to go back seeing as the occupants just tried to kill me and almost succeeded. I hung my head. "I don't know…"

Cat-boy had his arms folded behind his head. I felt awkward that I could see so much of his skin. _Is that a piercing on his bellybutton?!_ I turned my gaze away. _It's none of my business._

"You didn't answer my question from earlier. Why were you running from them?" he asked.

"Wasn't it obvious? They were trying to kill me."

"Why?"

"How should I know?! All I did was ask them if Miss Alice was present at the Hatter Residence, and then they ballistic on me, forcing me to play their stupid game. And if they caught me they would've killed me! So you tell me! Aren't you _their_ friend?!" I was huffing by the time I finished. I've never said so much in one sitting in my entire life.

He seemed completely unperturbed. "Alice? Why would you want to know where she is?" _Why does everyone know who Alice is, in this psychotic place?!_

"I'm a servant of the Liddell family, Miss Alice's family, and I'm trying to locate her to make sure she's safe and unharmed. And from what I've seen from this place so far, she's in grave danger!" Might as well leave out the part about taking her home, the people here apparently get angry whenever I mention that part.

"Ah, there's nothing to fear for Alice. She's safe."

"How could you be so sure?"

"Everyone loves an outsider." Something chilled inside of me at those words. "Hey, you're an outsider too. What's your name?"

"Oh, apologies, my name is Blake."

He grinned. "The name's Boris. If you're looking for Alice, I can help you."

"Really?" Caution suddenly went through me. "You're not… going to get us lost or anything, right?"

"Oh, no, no, I'm nothing like that directionally-challenged knight of Heart Castle. I'm much more reliable."

"Oh, thank God." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Haha, I'm guessing you ran into him before." _You have no idea._ "I'm surprised you were able to get away, you must be just as adaptable as Alice." _And here we go with the comparing again._ "What I'm trying to figure out is why you're dressed like a guy?" I stiffened. "Alice wears a dress so... I guess your world is different from ours."

"I'm not a girl," I said a little too quickly. _How the hell did he know?_

"Really? But you smell a lot like a girl." He sniffed me. "You smell sweet almost like honey." _Oh God, he can smell me?! Quick! Come up with an excuse!_

"Oh, that?" I tried to keep the straightest face possible. "I stayed at the Clock Tower for some time just recently, and while I was there I took a bath using some of Julius's bath salts. They were quite fragrant, I'm pretty sure you're smelling that. " Ok, that last part was a total lie. Julius did _not_ have any bath salts (that I know of), but whatever.

"Julius has… bath salts…?" His shoulders started shaking while he laughed. _Julius is gonna kill me if this ever gets back to him._ "Alright I can believe that… Julius does act like a woman at times himself. Maybe you are a dude." I felt my face screw up at that comment, Julius acting like a girl? An image of Julius giggling and skipping through a field of flowers entered my brain.

"Pfffft!" I covered my mouth to prevent myself from laughing out loud, tears of laughter crept at the corners of my eyes. _Oh dear God, Julius is gonna somehow get wind of this and kill me. I'm sure of it._

"Are you okay?"

I nodded my head 'yeah'. I didn't trust myself to speak because of fear of laughter.

"Okay then… time to go to the Amusement Park!" He hooted and through his fist to the sky.

"Amusement… Park?" _There's an AMUSEMENT PARK here?!_

"Yep! I'm sure Alice is there!" He started running off.

"Hey, wait up!" Jeez, this guy is fast.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

"ACHOO!" Julius sneezed covered his nose and mouth.

"Wow," Ace looked back at him startled, "You okay there, buddy?" Julius's eye twitched in irritation.

"Are you okay, he asks?" Julius mocked him. "Of course I'm not okay! I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with you!" His voice disturbed a bunch of birds in a tree nearby and they went flying off. At least, they were able to escape. Now Julius knew how Ace's victims felt when they feel into Ace's deceiving trap, which Julius just did. He followed Ace.

"Just cool down, Julius, I'm sure we'll reach Angel in no time!"

"The boy's probably already dead by now. We might as well go back to the Clock Tower."

"No, I don't believe you. He's still alive."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because," Ace held his hand over his chest, "I can feel him here."

Julius gave him a look of disbelief, before turning around and heading the opposite direction Ace was going. "I'm going back to the Clock Tower."

"But—what about Angel?! We can't just leave him out there! All cold and bloody… and alone."

"Quit trying to guilt trip me!"

"He needs us! He needs _you_, Julius." Julius could feel himself giving into the fool. He growled.

"Fine! But if we don't find him within the next _six_ hours, I'm leaving." Julius was being generous, _very_ generous.

Ace hugged Julius. "I knew you would agree!"

"Let go of me, before I change my mind." He was _so_ behind on work now, at this point he would never catch up. Blake's debt to him just tripled. With the pace Blake's debt was going, he would end up a slave to Julius in no time.

* * *

**Void: Julius that's just mean! You can't add the debt on a person without their knowledge. What did Blake ever do to you?**

**Julius: I just did. And she did _that_ *pointed at Ace* to me.**

**Ace: *Ace smiles, tilting his head, and pointing at himself* Me?**

**Void: You know you could've just chosen not to go. Unless... *smiles* you're too soft.**

**Julius: W-what? *slightly blushes* That's a ridiculous assumption!**

**Ace: Julius is too soft~! Julius is too soft~! *singing***

**Julius: *throws a wrench at Ace's head, but misses* I'm not soft!**

**Void: Reviews are welcome! Please! Any suggestions or questions you have (unless they pertain to spoiling the story) will be answered, so review please! And thank you for using your time to read this! (Which I'm starting to get the feeling that people don't even bother reading my captions T-T)**


	6. Chapter VI: Welcome to Hell

**I'm baaack! With Chapter Siiiixx!**

**By the way Thank you~^w^ for all the reviews guys! Chapter 5 has the most reviews out of all my other chapters! I'm so happy... T-T**

**_Special~Special Thanks To:_**

**_Meadow Melody_: Thank you for the review. And I'm sorry, but I couldn't help being a little meaner to Blake in this one haha.**

**_Allora22701_: Thanks the review and the favorite, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story! :)**

**_FloraRose23_: Thank you for the review and for reading the captions T-T so I'm pretty sure you're reading this right now :D I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and please keep throwing out suggestions, I enjoy hearing (or reading lol) what you have to say!**

**Guest: Thank you also for the review. Haha you got your wish here's the next chapter.  
**

_**Wednesday101**_**: ****Thank you for following this story. I hope you'll review sometime soon. **

**Now Elliot! Do the Disclaimer!**

**Elliot: Wha? Why should I?**

**Void: Because I'll give you a carrot cake if you do.**

**Elliot: Carrot cake?! Okay! Void does not own J/C/HnKnA, QR does. Void only owns her OC, Blake, and any other OCs that may appear in the story... can I have the cake now?**

**Void: Sure. *hands him the cake***

**Elliot: Yay!**

**Void: On with the story!**

* * *

_Chapter VI: Welcome to Hell_

I was in Hell, literal _Hell_. No, I'm serious. No matter how much I tried to keep my composure, no matter how long I was I trained; nothing could've prepared me for this…

_Aaaahhh, make it STOP!_ I was on my knees, my hands gripping my head in agony. My hands found the front shirt of a faceless, and I gripped onto it tightly. "Make it stop, please." Tears pricked the corner of my eyes. "I beg of you, please."

The faceless shook his head. "I'm sorry. You'll have to deal with it just a bit longer." He stepped away from me.

"No! Please!" I grabbed onto another one. "Kill me! Death is a much less cruel fate than this _torture_!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't, young sir. You'll just have to go through with it 'till the end."

I slid onto the floor. _This can't be happening. This just can't._ I whimpered.

A dark thought then came to my mind. _I'll never trust that boy again. The next time I see him, _if_ there's a next time, I'll skin him!_

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

_2 Hours Previously:_

The change purse Julius gave me was empty. _Ugh, that was so much money… how will I ever pay him back?_ I got the strange feeling that Cat-boy here was using me.

He grabbed my arm. "Hey, Blake! Let's go grab some cotton candy!" I was unused to how friendly he was acting towards me and we just met an hour or so ago. I pulled my arm away from his grasp.

"I don't have any more money." I showed him my empty purse. "It's over! Okay?" I just about had it with this cat. "Do you even know where Miss Alice _is_?"

"Not really."

I felt a tick-mark bulge on my head. "I thought you said, 'you _did_'."

"No, I said that I'll help you _look_ for Alice. I never said that I knew where she was." I am going to kill him. Just as I was about to strangle the life out of him, he grabbed my arm again and started dragging me off again. "Oh, look! The new rollercoaster is up!"

"How is this going to help me find Miss Alice?!" He completely ignored my question. _That, that-ugh! He's such a jerk!_

Let's take us farther back to the time when I thought Boris was kind of adorable…

_Flashback Time (1 Hour Ago):_

_I was following Boris for I don't know how long. I watched his tail flick back and forth as he walked. _Oh my God, is that real?_ Curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed it, the dead-fish piercing on the end of his tail made a jingling sound. Boris froze._

"_Why are you touching my tail?" He sounded a bit creeped out._

_I rubbed my finger against the tip of it, it was so soft. "It seems so real…" He yanked his tail out of my hands._

"_That's because it _is_ real." His ears twitched in annoyance._

_I lightly pinched the tips of both of his ears._

"_Ow!" He whipped his head out of my grasp. "What was that for?!" He hissed._

_I gasped. "They _are_ real!"_

"_Of course they are! What are you, an idiot?!" I ignored the insult, but I did have to admit, I kind of am acting like an idiot._

"_What are you?"_

"_Uh, I'm a Cheshire cat? Isn't it obvious?" His ears lowered and his tail drooped._ Why does he suddenly look so cuddly?

"_Okay, I believe you. It's just I'm still getting used to this place. Where I come from we don't have any animal… people." I thought of man with bunny ears who tried to kill me earlier. _Aren't bunnies supposed to represent happiness? Not hunting down and shooting? _I sighed; then again this place, the Country of Hearts, makes no sense whatsoever._

"_Oh…" He grinned and pointed at himself. "Then that makes me special, huh?"_

"_Uh, sure… I guess." I was quiet for a few moments. "How close are you… to Miss Alice?"_

"_Alice?" His expression instantly changed… something glinted in his eyes. "I'm her… friend. We're very close. We hang out allll the time…" I felt like he was trying to provoke me, which he kind of was. This strange man, whom I barely know, having a close connection with Miss Alice, and I'm only finding out just now. Betrayal spread through my chest. This wasn't the first time Alice hid something from me, she also hid the fact that she had a boyfriend from me. It felt like every step I took to get closer to Alice, I was also at the same time drifting farther and farther away from her. I didn't like that at all. "Well?"_

"_W-what?" Boris asked me something, but I didn't hear._

_He then repeated himself. "What's your relationship with Alice?" _Why does everyone care so much about my relationship with Alice?

"_I-I told you, I'm her servant. There's no relationship—"_

"_That's where I don't believe you."_

_I frowned. "What do you mean?"_

"_You care about her deeply. I can see it in your eyes; your eyes give everything away." I looked away from him; I didn't like how observant he was. I felt like I was some sort of specimen—most likely a mouse—that he was dissecting. I didn't reply back to him. I didn't want to give in to him. To admit that I did care about Alice, that I didn't want to see her get hurt._

_Flashback over…_

That's when Boris became way more playful, but at the same time crueler to me. He still every now and then would try to 'subtly' ask what my relationship was with Alice especially when he thought I was 'relaxed', but I never gave him straight answer thus frustrating him almost as much as he frustrated me.

He cut into the front of the line.

"Hey, you can't do that." I scowled at him disapprovingly. _How rude of him! _ These people must've been waiting for hours and he just cuts them off like that. The line was incredibly long and stretched as far as the eye could see. _This ride must be quite popular, if people are willing to wait this long._ "How are you even going to get us on the rollercoaster? We ran out of tickets long ago." We spent them all on the games there were at the Amusement Park. I remember we spent almost fifty tickets on 'Catch the Goldfish' game. God, it took forever to get Boris separated from that. Besides I was glad we ran out of tickets. I've never been on a rollercoaster before in my life, and I sure as hell, wasn't ready now.

Boris deviously smiled and pulled out six tickets (the price it was for the rollercoaster).

My eye twitched. "How long have you had those?"

"I've always had them." He smiled at my irritated face in amusement. "I do live here after all. It would be _weird_ if I didn't have any tickets on me."

"You, you—WHAT?! You had tickets on you the whole _time_?!" Wow, I felt like a complete idiot. He completely used me. "You _used_ me. You had these tickets and you didn't think to offer them up. You-you _snake_!"

"I'm not a snake, I'm a cat."

"You know what I mean."

"What do you mean?" He acted innocent. Okay, now he's just messing with me.

"I'll be taking my leave now." I turned to leave. He already wasted enough of my time. I needed to find Alice and I would have a better chance finding her by myself. He caught my arm.

"Just this one ride, pleeeeaaaase?" His yellow eyes became wide as he begged. His ears were pulled back, and his pierced ears letting out little 'tinkles'.

"I…I…" _Stop, stop making that… cute… face… I know you don't mean it… I know… I… know…_ His eyes seemed to get bigger. "I'm not sure… that…" _Don't… give… in…_ I really did not want to go on the rollercoaster. "But…"

"Great!" He dragged me towards the guy in charge of the rollercoaster, and gave him the tickets.

"W-wait! I didn't even say 'yes'!" Boris plopped us both down onto a seat and lowered the safety bar. _That doesn't look like it will support both of our weights._ Fear flashed into my eyes, and Boris caught sight of it.

"This is your first time isn't it?"

"Uh…" _Crap!_ I did not want him to know that I was scared. I knew that he was going to enjoy this.

One of the employees came by to make sure our safety bar was locked. "Having fun, you two?"

"Hell yeah!" Boris hooted.

"P-please, take me out of this," I begged the worker. "I don't want to go on this ride."

She laughed. "Is this your first time?"

"Yep," Boris answered for me, "he's my victim." _Did he seriously just admit that?_

Her brown eyes shone. "Quite the ride you choose for his first time. Enjoy!" She moved onto the next cart behind us.

My lower jaw dropped. _He just admitted that—and she just walked away? What the hell is wrong with this place?! Is this how Amusement Parks are?_ Our seat jerked forward as the ride began. Fear built itself inside my stomach as it uncomfortably swirled around.

*Click* *Click* *Click* the rollercoaster went up a particularly large, uh, hill/mountain. At each clunk made I could feel my sweat increase and my breathing quicken. Soon enough I was hyperventilating. _No, I wasn't ready! I'm scared. I'm really scared._

Boris had a smile on his face, but it disappeared when he glanced at me. "Wow, calm down, Blake." I couldn't though; my hands were tightly gripped onto the bar. "Jeez, Blake, grow up. You're not going to die….okay, you might die since this is a new ride, and you never know with Gowland." _Wait, we might die?! _Sickness started rising in my stomach.

"Boris, I don't feel so good…" Wow, I am _really_ not feeling well, if I didn't say _mister_ before his name. Mucus came up my throat and I just barely swallowed it before it completely came up. My hand was covered over my mouth. _Ewww…_ Boris immediately took notice of my sickness.

"Aw, crap. Don't panic." The rollercoaster was almost at the top of the arch.

"I'm panicking!"

"I said '_don't_ panic'! Count to 100, and just keep recounting." We reached the top of the arch and Boris got distracted. "Gowland really went all out this time…"

It was a six-hundred foot drop. My face drained of all color. _I'm gonna die…_ Our ride paused for a moment, before it plummet us to our doom. "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed in terror, while Boris yelled in utter joy. My hair whipped back and I could feel my face burning from the pressure of the air. I held onto the bar tightly as I could feel my body actually being lifted from the seat.

We finally hit the bottom, but instead of crashing and burning… and dying, we went down into a tunnel. Suddenly everything was pitch-black, only increasing my fear ten-fold. We slid smoothly, but _very_ quickly over the railings and everything was calm. I could even feel my heart beat to slow down.

"See, it's not that bad." I could hear Boris next to me say.

We suddenly jerked to the right and a whole bunch of torches lit up as we swirled down, deeper into an abyss. My heartbeat began to quicken again as we burst out into sunlight, and we were falling… again.

Boris held his arms up in the air, laughing. _Is he INSANE?!_ Another screech ripped out of my throat as we began twisting as we fell. Our ride rushed upward into a double loop. My mind was becoming fuzzy with all the adrenaline buzzing through me, and my hands stiffened their hold on the safety bar even more so. I squeezed my eyes shut. _1, 2, 3, 4_—we jerked right abruptly and I shrieked. _Ok, just calm down, do what Boris told you. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…_ My breathing slowed. _8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15…_

"Blake, watch out!" Boris called out to me and my eyes snapped open. I watched as the rows of carts before me crashed and fell down a broken part in the railings. Our cart was about to go over the edge, when the emergency brakes went up and we were just barely tilting off the edge. _Holy shit, we almost died!_ "Blake, are you okay?" I was about to open my mouth to reply, when a big, burly faceless swiftly stood up.

"What the hell's going on?!" he barked out, slamming his hands in a tantrum on the back of our cart sending us the rest of the way forward. _That piece of—_

I fell past the safety bar, but Boris grabbed onto my hand just in time. "Hold on, Blake! I've got you!" He was trying to pull me back up towards him. I could feel my hand slipping out of the glove from the amount of sweat I had. _No, no, God no!_ Boris soon was only holding onto my glove as I fell. "BLAKE!" he screamed. I smiled. He'll soon find out. What I truly am—

"Blake!" _Huh, I'm not dead yet? This sure is one long fall._ "Blake!" I was being shaken. I frowned. _How the hell is someone touching me? I'm supposed to be falling right now._ "BLAKE!" Someone smacked my face. _Okay, this person's gonna die._

I opened my eyes. Boris was standing above me, his eyes wide with worry. Worry? I must be hallucinating. "Aren't I supposed to be a mangled body smashed against the ground, right now?"

"Uh, no." Boris looked at me as if I hit my head against the ground, which by the way, it totally felt like that happened. "You fainted in the middle of the ride." _Oh, so that's what happened._ No wonder I had that really messed up dream, my brain was stimulated by adrenaline.

"Oh…" I noticed that I was sitting on a bench not too far from the ride we were just on. Boris must've carried me… or one of the employees did. I groaned and my head lolled to the side as I suffered through a wave of dizziness.

Boris laughed. "You totally screamed like a girl. I'm surprised you didn't wet your pants."

"You're a douchebag." Damn, I actually swore out loud.

"Haha, don't be like that, Blake. Admit it, you had fun." At that moment, I felt the sickness that was held inside me for so long come up. I lunged for the closest bush and upchucked my lunch. "…Or not…" I wiped my mouth, trying to regain my equilibrium. I felt like complete crap. His hand rested on my shoulder. His voice became soft, "I'm s—" I shoved his hand off me.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I raised my voice for the first time ever at him, at anyone (minus Ace) actually. "You knew I didn't want to go on the rollercoaster. You _knew_ I was _afraid_! But you forced me on it anyway…" My voice choked on itself. _Oh God, I better not cry right now. I won't allow him to see my tears. NO ONE can see my tears._ "I've never been on a rollercoaster, before, or even in an _Amusement Park_ before and you just…" I hiccupped, and I stubbornly kept my tears in. "You didn't like me from the moment you found out I knew Alice, before she came to this world. You took you're frustrations out on me. You wanted me to feel like trash." I saw his eyes widen out of the corner of my eye telling me I was right. "Well, are you happy now!? I feel like complete trash! Complete worthless trash! I can't even save Miss Alice! I'm the worst servant ever!" I stood up with a bit of stumble. "You got your wish, now just—just leave me alone." I whimpered at the end.

His ears and tail drooped. Regret went through his eyes. "Blake… I-I…"

"What have we here?" A tall man with glasses appeared behind us. He wore a bright yellow vest and jacket with a blue diamond pattern going down the sleeves and the front. His reddish brown was long enough that he put it back in a braid. His sea-foam green eyes gleamed, before they faded into a scowl seeing my upset face. "Boris! What did you do to my customer!?"

Boris fidgeted. "I-I took him on the new rollercoaster… and he didn't like it." _Oh, saving your ass by leaving out about the part about you draining me dry of all money? Jerk!_ "Your rollercoaster sucks, _Mary_!"

"What did you just call me, you _fur ball_?!" The man whom I'm guessing was Gowland grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"You heard me, _Merry-Go-Round_!" _Merry-Go-Round…? Wait, Mary Gowland… Merry-Go-Round… Pffft!_ I tried my best to contain my laugh in. I did not need another enemy on my side. "And I'm not a _fur ball_! I'm not in the shape of a ball!"

"Why you…" Gowland's face darkened as huge tic marks appeared all over his face. I pondered whether or not to let Boris get killed. He_ did_ dig his own grave. I sighed. But I'm not really the revengeful sort.

"Sir?" I poked his shoulder. His dark aura immediately went away and he turned to me.

"Huh? What is it, young man?"

"I want a full refund."

"A _full_ refund?! Boris, what did you do?" He turned around only to see that Boris disappeared. "That damn cat!"

"_Mr. Gowland_," I smiled, "I really would like my money back, _now_."

"Ohhh, please, don't be like that." He put both his hands together in a begging manner. _No way am I going to let people drain my money anymore!_ I still persistently held my hand out waiting for my money back. "How much do I owe you?" I had a feeling he was the owner of this place.

"Let's see… you owe me fifteen shillings for the admission ticket to gain access to the park," I prattled off, counting the number of things I purchased for _Boris_, including food, drink, small trinkets, _piercings_ (why I bought those for him I'll never know), the games, oh Lord, the_ games_ drained me of all my money. "So all in all," I was quite good at math, and it was a requirement to become a servant of the Liddell family, "you owe me 21 pounds, 18 shillings, and 11 pence, oh yes, and I'm charging another 20 pounds for being kidnapped and used against my will." His jaw dropped and his face paled.

"B-but, y-young man, surely that's not necessary!"

"Is it? I wonder what would happen if a rumor went around the country that you weren't willing to comply with the needs of your customers, also that one of your employees kidnapped one of said customers." Okay, I was completely bluffing. I'm horrible at socially interacting with people let alone spreading rumors, all I could do was cross my fingers and hope that he took the bait. I would threaten to contact the police, but I had the strange feeling there was no police force in this land, considering all the fighting, and killing, and… yeah.

"Boris isn't one of my employees."

"No, but he lives under your jurisdiction, yes?" His panicked expression was more enough an answer. "That means you're responsible for any actions he takes." I saw that he finally caved in.

"I'll pay you back for everything including for the extra 20 pounds." _Yes! Thank you, God! You do care about me._ "But only on one condition." _Oh, no… not the one condition part._ He grinned excitedly. "I'll personally play one of my pieces for you, I'm sure you'll change your mind! I am one of the best renowned musicians in the Country of Hearts!" He seemed pretty passionate about it. I smiled to myself. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to listen to one of his pieces. It might even cheer me up.

"Alright, I'll listen to one of your pieces."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

_Presently:_

I should've refused. Better yet, I shouldn't have let Boris take advantage of me like that. It was _his_ fault that I was upset, it was _his_ fault that he attracted Gowland's attention to me; it was _his_ fault that I was stuck in this _Hellhole_.

I covered my ears as best as I could from the deadly sound waves slicing through the air like daggers.

Gowland had a blush of pleasure on his face as he dragged the bow over an earsplitting octave. _How can he enjoy this?! Is he tone-deaf?_ Most likely…

His employees gave me pitying glances as they saw me writhing on the ground in agony. They have grown used to his… what do you even call it? It's not music, at all. Torture is the perfect word for it. They were used to this torture of his, and I most certainly was not.

Finally he took the bow away from the violin and bowed finishing his hour long piece. He then looked down at my withered form on the ground with sparkles in his eyes. "Did you love it?!"

I was finally able to sit up straight, but my head was pounding even more now, he worsened my sickness from the rollercoaster. "I… i-it was…" It was horrendous! That wasn't music; he completely butchered the notes, and turned into something you'd find in a horror novel. The list of how horrible it was could go on and on, but I was a servant, I was a gentleman! I cannot say such things to a man, let alone the owner of an Amusement Park that would be against everything I was taught. I looked up at him realizing he was still waiting for my answer. "I-it was….very….different," I said in a shaky voice.

"Different?" He raised one of his eyes brows. "Different how?" _Um…_

One of the faceless, that I grabbed the shirt of earlier, spoke up, "I think the young man is speechless from your amazing performance, sir!"

"Yes, he's so moved by your _masterpiece_ that he can't think of what to say!"

"Really?" Tears of joy appeared in Gowland's eyes as he looked at me.

All I could do was nod my head 'yes' and give the faceless a face that screamed 'thank you'. _They're so understanding…_ I wanted to cry at that moment, especially when the faceless gave me a 'thumbs up'.

A huge grin spread across Gowland's unshaven face. "Then you wouldn't mind, if I played another song!" _Oh Dear God, no! If you have any love in your heart for me, please don't make me go through this torture a second time!_ No amount of money was worth this. Even the faceless had looks of horror on their faces.

"N-no, that's alright! You don't have to! I'm sure you're very busy." I tried swaying him from playing any longer.

"Of course I do, it's my duty to entertain my customers!"

"I really enjoyed your, uh, performance. You don't even have to pay me back." _Just please don't make me listen to that hellish music again._

He looked surprised, before his eyes became huge and sparkly. "You really did love it~! Please listen to this next song, I insist." _Noooooo!_ The door to his recital room suddenly burst open, and a man wearing a white suit with yellow trim and giant black bow strode through the door. He had a walking stick in one hand and on his head a big black top hat was adorned. _He looks familiar…_ I thought as observed his smoothly shaven face and messy raven black hair. "Well, if it isn't _Hatter_. I hope you're not here to negotiate about the territories, are you?" _Wait… Hatter?! _A flash of the twins and bunny-eared man went through my mind. _Oh no, no, no, no, no! _

Hatter pulled the top hat down over his eyes and smirked. "Actually this isn't about the territories; this is about something else entirely. Elliot, bring him in." _His voice sounds so familiar too._

"Alright, boss." The very same bunny-eared man that tried to kill me not too long ago came walking through the door. My face paled, and my face paled even further when I realized that this Hatter man was his boss. So Hatter is worse than Elliot? Elliot's hand was clamped down on the shoulder of a man with a sack over his face.

"I would like to know," Hatter made a gesture to Elliot and Elliot revealed the face of the man, "why one of your own was found eavesdropping in on a very private conversation I was having with one of my… _sources_."

Gowland was silent for a few seconds. "I don't know… I never arranged for one of my own to infiltrate your ranks."

"I'm sorry, sir!" The faceless spoke to Gowland. "I just wanted to help!"

"Oh, you just wanted to help? That's so kind of you." Hatter smiled. "Elliot, if you will." The rabbit took out his pistol and shot the faceless in the head without missing a beat. The faceless fell to the ground with a soft thump. I gasped, watching the blood pool around the now dead man. _He just… killed him!_

Gowland's eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Blood?" _Blood? That's the name of this man?_ _It's fitting._

"Compensation, of course."

"_Compensation_? You expect me to give you compensation, after you just made a mess on my floor?!" _A mess? That's all he thought of the man whom gave his life to help him?!_ Sickness rose from the pit of my stomach. "Get out of my Park, Hatter!" His violin suddenly took the shape of a rifle pointed straight at Blood. _Did his violin just turn into a gun?!_ Elliot in turn aimed his pistol at Gowland. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Gowland's employees taking out their own guns as well. _Wait, they're armed too?!_

"Of course, I expect compensation, _Mary_. If you didn't want a mess on your floor, then maybe you should've kept a better eye on your employees, _Mary_." _Oh my God… is he trying to piss off Gowland like Boris did earlier!?_ "And you can't expect me to leave after showing me so much disrespect, _Mary_ _Go-Round_."

Gowland's eye twitched. "KEEP UP THAT TALK AND YOU'LL END UP AS A CORPSE!" Gowland's rifle fired and he grazed Blood's shoulder.

"Oh my," Blood inspected the torn cloth on his shoulder, "this suit is very expensive."

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR SUIT!" Angry tick-marks completely covered Gowland's face. I didn't know who to be more afraid of at this moment, an explosive Gowland, the bunny-eared man who tried to kill me earlier, or the very calm Hatter who mercilessly had Elliot execute one of Gowland's employees right in front of him. I cowered away from the fight that was about to break out.

"Are you sure you're ready to fight me? You do have a guest in your presence." Blood's liquid blue eyes slid over to me. I felt myself tense.

Gowland looked to me, and ordered, "I'm sorry about this, but you're going to have to get back. I can't be the perfect host today, perhaps some other time?" I listened to his order and got as far back as I could. I didn't want to get stuck in the middle of this fight. Before I knew it, firing broke out all around me and I dropped to the ground so I wouldn't get hit. _Bloody Hell! I'm going to have to find a way out of here._ I crawled along the floor, keeping my head down. Chunks of wood from the instruments littered the floor around me.

I spotted a door not too far away from where I was. I just had to detour around the fighting and go the rest of the way along the wall to reach it. I grit my teeth in determination and slunk along the floor putting my plan to use. A dead body landed right in front of me, on the floor. I had to suck in a wail of horror, when I saw it was one of the faceless who helped me earlier with Gowland. I had to crawl over him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I whispered to the body as I did. I finally made it to the wall, and stood up pressing myself against it as I skimmed across it. _Almost there._ My hand reached out to turn the doorknob just as two arms appeared on either side of my head, trapping me. My head whipped around to see Blood.

"Hmm, and what do we have here?" his voice was like silk. I froze as I finally recognized who he was. _He's—!_

"You're…" _Alice's tutor!_

"Take your hands off my customer, Blood." Gowland was right behind Blood with his gun leveled at Blood's head.

"No need to be hasty." Blood grabbed me by my shoulder with one arm and pressed the barrel of his gun to my temple. "My finger might accidently slip." _Damn it…_ I closed my eyes and grimaced. _Damn it all to Hell._

"Yo, Hatter!" My eyes instantly opened as I saw Boris take out a gun and shoot at the shoulder of Blood's hand that was holding the gun. Blood immediately took his gun away from my temple to dodge the bullet. I saw my chance to escape and took it. "Get goin' Blake! I'll cover you!" _Boris came to help me._ I felt… touched. I never expected him to do something like this for me. He kept Blood's faceless off of me all the way to the door. "We'll meet again, I promise!"

"Now, Cheshire, don't make promises you can't keep." Blood spoke, before I heard a gunshot behind me, and Boris went quiet. _Oh God, Boris no…_ I didn't have time to look back to see if Boris was okay as I ran out the door. _I'll expect him to live up to his promise._ I convinced myself that somehow that bloody cat survived.

Outside was just as bad as it was inside Gowland's music room. There was gunfire everywhere. _Is this whole Park armed?!_ I ran as fast as I could. _I need to get out of this place, and get back to the Clock Tower!_ I ran towards the Park's entrance. Two of Hatter's faceless blocked my exit.

"Don't take another step!" I came to a halting stop.

"I-I don't work for Gowland! I-I'm just a customer who got stuck in all of this. Could you please let me through?"

"The boss ordered that no one's entering or leaving the park! Now get back!" The faceless shot at the ground near my feet, and I jumped back. _Shit!_ I held my hands up in surrender, and kneeled on the ground.

"I don't mean any harm," I tried to calm them; "I really would like to leave is all."

"You talk too much!" One of them raised their guns to aim at me, but was cut short when a sudden slash from his front sent him to the ground dead. His partner jumped away from the dead body.

"What the—?!" He started firing at a man who came running at him. With a streak of red the faceless was dead within seconds.

A familiar brunette wearing a red overcoat swept me off the ground. "I found you, Angel~!"

"Ace! What're you doing here?" I gripped my hands onto the front of his overcoat for support. He smiled at me.

"To save you." That was all he said before slashing a path to the exit, killing any faceless that crossed our path. Finally we made it out of the park, Ace started slowing down his pace, until he set me down onto the ground.

Julius appeared from behind the bushes. "So he was here…" I was surprised to see Julius. He didn't strike me as the type to go outside.

"I told you that we would find him, Julius."

"After how many hours of being lost?"

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad. We didn't even go camping yet."

A tick-mark appeared on Julius's forehead. "And I'd prefer it if we don't go camping, now let's go back to the Clock Tower. I'm already far behind in my work enough trying to help find the boy with you, all day." _He and Ace were trying to find me?_ Tears rose in my eyes. They cared that much about me.

"You were trying to find me?"

"Yeah, we thought you were in danger, and what do you know. We were right!" Ace grinned down at me. "Glad, we made it in time." They were glad I was okay? I couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears started flowing from my eyes and I tried wiping them away, only for them to be replaced by more.

"Why are you crying? We just saved you." Julius panicked when he saw my tears.

Ace looked confused. "Blake—"

I hugged him; I could feel him stiffen under my hold not expecting me to hug him. I held my arms as tightly as I could around him because I was afraid that he would disappear. I let out everything I kept bottled up inside through my tears at that moment. "I was so scared!" My body trembled from each sob that went through my body. "I thought I was going to die!" I never realized it, before… I was scared of death. I was scared that I wouldn't make it to see Alice's face one more time. I was scared that when I died no one would care.

Ace hugged me back just as tight, but not tight enough to hurt me. "Blake… it's okay. I won't let anyone hurt you," he whispered in my ear.

I buried my face into his chest letting my body wrack out into sobs. I let his warmth drape around me and caress me. Cause at that moment I didn't care that he was a psychopath, that he mercilessly slaughtered faceless just minutes ago to save me. At that moment I just wanted to hold someone, and for once, have them hold me back…

* * *

**Aww, poor Blake, she couldn't take all the pressure. Let's list off all the things that happened to her so far: she was almost killed in a shoot out between faceless, she got lost with Ace, she's in debt with Julius (from which doubled, then tripled thanks to Ace irritating him), she almost got killed by the twins, then was almost killed by Elliot, she was used by Boris for all of her money, Boris then scared the crap out of her by taking her on a roller-coaster, she got stuck with Gowland and had to listen to his hellish music for an hour, she watched faceless she knew or didn't know get killed right in front of her eyes, she almost got killed by Blood (looks like the whole Hatter family is out to kill her), and then she almost got killed by two faceless when she tried to leave the Amusement Park...hmmm, maybe I was a little to harsh on her...**

**Alice: Ya think!**

**Void: Oh, Alice? What're you doing here? You're not supposed to be in the story yet.**

**Alice: I'm supposed to be the main character.**

**Void: Not in this story, Blake's the main character in this one. You're considered as the maiden. Ya know, the girl whom the hero, Blake, is supposed to save only in this situation she's trying to _find_ you.**

**Alice: I'm not a maiden!**

**Void: Uh-huh...right... explain why every man in Wonderland is constantly saving you all the time.**

**Alice: Uhh...**

**Void: That's what I thought. Oh yeah, for those of you who are thinking the exact same thing about Blake. You're completely wrong. Once Blake completely adjusts to Wonderland, she'll be completely fine on her own. And she'll reveal some secrets of her own. :D**

**Let's try beating last chapters review record! Let's try to reach up to 5 reviews for this chapter, before I post anymore, 'kay? (Lol I'm becoming greedy XD) Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Tata~!**


	7. Chapter VII: The Mortician and Memories

**Sorry about the delay guys, I would've had this updated yesterday. -_- But my family completely took over my laptop, so I couldn't work on it.**

**And thanks for all the reviews! Now that I know you guys can easily give me five reviews in no time, in order for you to see any more chapters I'll need those 5 reviews, unless I ask otherwise. Which for this chapter, I don't need 5 reviews, but I would like to hear your input. I'm completely walking in blind here as the story progresses (well, not completely) especially with the romance part. I kinda am _not experienced at all_ in that field so I'm very eager to hear any suggestions any of you might have. Thank you.**

**Special Thanks to:**

_**Meadow Melody**_**:**** Here's****the break from Gowland's violin XD lol Thanks for the review.**

_**Wednesday101**_**: Thanks for the review. And I hope you also like Julius too . not just Ace.****  
**

_**Allora22701**_**:**** Thank you for the review. I hope you like this chapter, XD I made it really awkward.**

_**FloraRose23**_**:****Thank you for the review, and favoriting me and this story! (Although I could've sworn you've favorited me before... or did you follow me _ so confusing...) Thank you for all the good advice!... Please help meeeee with romance T_T**

**Guest: I'm so sorry I almost you cry! O_O But it's okay if you do cry (this story is going to get pretty dark after all)**

_**TheParadoxicalOxymoron**_**: Thanks for following the story! I hope you, uh, review sometime.**

_**motherdark**_**:**** Thank you as well for following the story! Please review, when you find the time.**

***Let's out a long held breath* Wow, that was a long list.**

**Blake: I concur... but at least that means a lot of people are reading your story.**

**Void: I guess you're right. Okay, here's the disclaimer, I do not own J/C/HnKnA, QR does... by the way, how did you like hugging Ace, Blake?**

**Blake: Uhhhh... O/O**

**Void: ^^ You're so cute. On with the story!**

* * *

_Chapter VII: The Mortician and Memories_

***Julius's POV***

The mortician never expected the young boy to hug Ace like that, usually people, including Alice, wouldn't dare do such a feat as the knight was known for his lack of sympathy. But to his surprise, Ace revealed… an emotion, even Julius didn't expect him to hold, and that emotion was… genuine compassion. How could an outsider, let alone a young boy manage such a feat? Even Alice, the outsider who claimed the love of every role-holder in Wonderland, had trouble with Ace.

Julius pondered this while walking alongside the cheerful knight carrying the passed out boy on his back. The young boy was full of surprises… and secrets as well. The boy didn't seem the crying sort, he was the kind of boy that would that would take what was given to him and make use of it somehow. But after seeing the boy break down in front of Ace and him, Julius didn't know what to make of him. He felt like everything he thought he knew about the boy crumbled at that instant making him even more mysterious than before.

Another thing Julius didn't understand as well was why he was so interested in the boy, in the first place. He knew nothing about the boy except that he was a servant of the Liddell family, a servant of Alice's. He didn't know Alice's relationship with the boy either, whether or not they were close, but… the determination in the boy's eyes as he spoke about finding Alice. Never has he seen so much dedication… so much _loyalty_ in anyone's eyes before. It was… almost terrifying.

"So Julius… what are we going to do?" Ace spoke.

"Hm?"

"Are we going to help Blake find Alice?"

"…" He didn't know how to answer that. If they helped the boy find Alice, that would mean Alice would go back to her old world.

"I mean if Blake finds Alice, he'll try taking her back to where they came from. That means we'll lose both Alice and Blake, right? Everything will go back to the way it used to." Ace sounded almost bitter on the last sentence.

"Perchance… the boy does find Alice, it's not like he can force Alice to go back." Julius looked at Ace. "He's loyal to her; he'll do anything for her. He'll respect her choice, if she chooses to go back he'll follow, if she chooses to stay, he'll stay as well." Julius had no idea where that came from.

"Maybe, you're right, Julius." He smiled. "I hope you're right. I want Blake to stay." _Blake?_ Julius thought Ace liked Alice. "I mean Alice is fun to tease and everything, but there's just something… different about Blake. I can't explain it." Julius couldn't help, but agree with Ace. There was something a bit off about this boy.

Julius narrowed his blue eyes at the deep red sky, watching a lone hawk circle above the forest, searching for something, just as the boy was searching for Alice.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

_Oh my Lord… I feel so embarrassed…_ I couldn't believe I cried myself asleep in Ace's arms. He was never going to let this one go, I just knew it. I sat by the fire holding my head in my hands, too humiliated to look at Ace, or even Julius for that matter. _Ugh, I'm a disgrace to the Liddell family. Crying in front of strangers? What the bloody hell is wrong with me?_ I let out a sigh. I just needed to get my wits back together. Too much has happened today, and I needed to take a step back and review over what happened.

It seems that whenever I mentioned that I was here to take Alice home, people got really pissed off. Even Ace became slightly aggressive when I mentioned that, and I do _not_ want to have an aggressive Ace against me, so I should probably drop telling people about the whole 'rescuing Alice' thing and just say that I'm trying to find her. That way, hopefully less people will try to kill me.

Also I need to be very cautious around the animal people; they seem to have something hidden up their sleeve so far. Boris turned out not to be that bad actually… if you ignore the fact that he completely stripped me of all money I had. I had to be extra careful around that bunny-eared man, Elliot, he was _dangerous_ and without mercy.

And above all, _avoid Gowland at all costs_. I'd rather get shot at than listen to his hellish, disgusting, broken music.

"Hey, Angel? Do you mind moving?"

"Huh?" I looked up and saw that Ace had a large log over one shoulder. _How the hell is he able to pick that up?!_ I jumped out of the way. "Of course." He placed the log down making a bench for us to sit down. _He's becoming more considerate…_ I sat down on the middle of the log and let out another sigh. Ace plopped down on my left. He tried catching my eye with his. "Do you need something, Sir Ace?"

"You've been quiet, Angel. Is there something bothering you?" I saw out of the corner of my Julius skulking in the darkness. _Isn't he cold?_

"Actually yes… I'm thinking about something Boris told me…"

"Boris?" Ace narrowed his eyes at me, keeping a smile on his face, but I could see something almost malicious glint in his eyes. "That's quite the informal way to say his name; you never called me just 'Ace'."

"Uhhh… about that." I felt nervous, almost guilty under his gaze. Wait, _guilty_? Why the hell should I feel guilty? "I don't know… I guess I don't really see him… as a superior."

"Oh? You see me as your _superior_?" I panicked. _Crap._

"N-not exactly. Look, it's complicated! I tend to act highly formal towards people I respect."

"So now you _respect_ me?" He leaned in towards me with that annoying smile on his face.

I squeaked, "Yes." He had a surprised expression.

"Really?"

"Yes, even though you have psychotic tendencies which often lead you to needlessly killing people, which I completely disagree with, you've also saved my life not only once, but twice. Normally from where I come from, no one would've given me a second glance let alone a first, and yet you've taken care of me." A blush came over my face. "I suppose I should thank you again." I tried not to look at his face. _Oh God why did I say that? Now it's going to go to his head._

He chuckled. "You sure are filled with all kinds of surprises, aren't ya?" Next thing I knew his arms were wrapped securely around my small waist and his ear was pressed against my chest. Warmth spread across my face.

"S-sir!"

"Ace. Call me Ace."

"B-but—"

"Are you disobeying me? Your _superior_." _Oh God, he's never going to live that one down._

"I…" I did not know how to reply to that one…

"Ah, Angel, your heart's beating so fast~!" Fuzziness came over me as I blushed even harder. "I want hear more." He dragged me into his lap. "I wonder if I can make your heart beat even faster." His face was inches from mine. _Oh God, what is he doing?!_ Out of reflex I jumped up out of his grasp and put as much distance between us. I gave Julius a pleading look. _Help me._

Julius sighed. "Ace, leave the poor boy alone and go fetch us some dinner already."

"I wasn't doing anything wrong," Ace whined, "I was just listening to his heart!"

"_Ace_."

He pouted, "Fine." He then went off into the forest; hopefully he won't get lost on the way back.

Julius and I were left alone in the clearing and a silence stretched between us. I decided to be the one to break it.

"Is there any way to make, uh, Sir Ace, you know, less grabby?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Ah, I see… then I guess I'll have to somehow suffer through it." Tears poured down my face on my inner self. _Dammit._ I noticed that he was still in the shadows. "Mr. Monrey? It's quite cold out, wouldn't it be more preferable to sit next to the fire, uh, that is if you are cold." His eyes silently regarded mine.

I never really was struck by how handsome he was until now. In fact he was so handsome… he was beautiful, I know that's a strange word to describe a man, but seriously he was. He had a sharp but smooth oval face framed by the longest dark blue hair I've ever seen. "You're the most beautiful man I've ever seen…" _Oh shit! Did I just say that out loud!?_ I smacked my hand over my mouth. _Oh my God, I'm such a moron! Now he's going to be just as creeped out by me as I am by myself. I just had to let that slip out didn't I?_ "Uh, I mean, uh, you're very handsome!" _Ugh, quit making it worse for yourself, you idiot!_ I scolded myself.

Julius had a baffled expression on his face, obviously not expecting me to say something like that.

Flustered I smacked both hands over my face. "Ah, just ignore what I just said!" I turned my body away from him. "I think Gowland's music may have affected me worse than I previously thought!" That was… an okay excuse I guess, but, ugh, why did I have to say that?! Now he's going to think that I'm gay. Which technically I am because I like guys, but I'm a girl so it's normal for me to like guys, but he can't know that I'm a girl because that's a really _really_ bad thing if that was found out. "I'm sorry…" I finished miserably.

Julius cleared his throat. "You mentioned something earlier, something that cat told you." I could tell he was trying to change the subject and I was more than eager to reply.

"Boris? Well, he told me something that uh was quite troubling to me… he told me that, _'Everyone loves an outsider'_… is that true?" Julius seemed to be caught a bit off guard when I said that, but it was gone within a second as returned back to his normal passive self.

"He told you that…?" I nodded my head. "In any case, what he said is true. Everyone can't help, but fall in love with an outsider. Your kind is different from us, you're irreplaceable. In this world, everyone can be replaced. Because of that we're drawn to foreigners like Alice, we can't help but fall in love."

"So…" I hugged my knees into my chest. "Does that mean," I looked at him, "that you love Miss Alice?" A slight blush crossed his cheeks answering my question. _Is he blushing?_ I didn't expect him to actually blush! "You don't need to answer, I can see that you care about her, just like everyone else I've met so far." _Ace, Julius, those twins, even Boris loves Alice… I wonder how many others there are. _"It's not much of a surprise to me for so many to fall in love with Miss Alice. Everyone loved Alice even where we came from. She was just so happy and full of life, so colorful like a flower. She was kind to every one of us, and would become distraught if anything bad happened." I smiled remembering Alice when she was little and would meddle with everyone's duties, but nobody really minded her, they enjoyed her presence. My smile fell. "But just like a flower she's fragile. When her mother died, unlike everyone else who grieved and let out their tears, eventually accepting her death, Miss Alice didn't grieve.

"She kept everything inside. She couldn't understand that her mother's soul would watch over her, instead she thought of her mother as being gone permanently, never to return. She became empty inside. Her little sister, Miss Edith, couldn't understand why Alice didn't cry, because of that she hated Miss Alice… This is quite the harsh world for Miss Alice to live in. She doesn't belong here." _We all can sense Alice's fragility, and because of that we feel that we have to protect her._ I watched my hand close itself into a fist. _And it's my duty to protect her as her servant. So far I've been a failure in that…_

I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw Julius sitting on the edge of bench on my right. _He sure is quiet._ I feel like there's something I'm supposed to remember… _Hmmm… what was it…?_ I thought long and hard for a few minutes. "Oh!" I clicked my gloved fingers together. "Now I remember!" I pulled the broken clock out of my vest pocket. "You fix clocks right?" I put it in Julius's hand.

"Where did you get this?"

"Um," I scratched my cheek trying to remember, "I found it in the forest somewhere, on my way to the Hatter Residence. There was a dead body, but it turned into this broken clock." Julius went completely still next to me. "I knew Ace was collecting them for you, so I thought I should bring this one to you, when I came back."

"Troublesome child…" I heard Julius mutter. My eyebrow twitched.

"I was just trying to help—!" I cut myself off. "I'm sorry," I looked away, "I was being completely rude, involving myself in your business without asking permission first; I suppose that was quite childish of me." How could I be so insensitive and selfish? I shouldn't involve myself in another's business. "But there's something I'm curious about… Ace told me that unlike my world where everyone has a heart; here in this place instead of hearts you people have clocks. So when someone dies and their clock breaks… you fix those clocks."

"Yes, that is true." He narrowed his eyes at me.

"So when you fix a clock, you're fixing a life?"

"In a way, yes."

"So you can bring back someone if they died? Is that why no one's bothered when someone's dies? Because they know they'll come back?"

"No, not quite. Once a person dies they'll never come back. When I fix a clock, a life will take form, but it won't be the same person who had the clock before."

"Oh…" I frowned. That's unfortunate. "Then why is it that no one cares when someone dies? Ace told me it's because they'll be replaced, but is it really that?"

"Yes, it's true. Unlike where you come from, everyone is irreplaceable, but when someone dies here, their role will be replaced. We are replaceable."

"I don't believe that," I murmured.

"I know it's hard to get your mind accustomed to—"

"No!" I cut him off, leaving him with a dumbfounded expression. "You're not replaceable!" His eyes widened in shock. "And neither is Ace! No one here is replaceable! Do you know why?" I didn't wait for an answer to the question as it was rhetorical. "Everyone has a soul that makes each of us different and unique from each other. And these souls are irreplaceable. It doesn't matter what you are, or who you are, all of us has a soul, Mr. Monrey." I looked him directly in the eyes, and I noticed him twitch slightly under my gaze. "And when someone dies, they don't just disappear either like some people would believe, such as Miss Alice; their souls live on within each one of us. Our memories of them, the lesson's we've learned from them, they live on with us. So, Mr. Monrey, don't ever think that when you die you're replaceable. Sure, someone will come and take over your role and life will go on, but it won't be the same. You are unique and _no one_ can ever take that away from you." His jaw was slightly hanging open by the time I finished my passionate speech. I laughed nervously. "Sorry, a little too much?"

"You're not afraid?"

"Afraid?"

"Afraid of me?"

"Afraid of you? Why would I be afraid of you?"

"Every day I'm bringing back lives, in other terms I could also be considered as an Undertaker. Many people despise me because of this. Are you sure you're not frightened?" He gave me a cold sideways glance, probably expecting me to go run off screaming into the forest, but I was _not_ that type of person.

I smiled at him warmly. "Once again, I'll tell you I'm not scared of you. In fact, if anything, I'm intrigued."

"Intrigued?" He stumbled a bit with the word as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes, intrigued, I hold a new respect for you in my eyes now that I see you were helping bring people back this whole time. You must truly do care about people, if you work so hard to bring them back. And it truly is a shame that the regard for life is so low in this place, there must be no end to your work." I lightly touched his shoulder causing him to recoil a bit; I immediately took back my hand. "Sorry." Why did I just touch him? That was just… rude. I glared at my hand, usually I didn't feel comfortable with touching people or people touching me, but for some reason I felt comfortable around Julius. It was weird, it's like he has some sort of calming affect over me. "Besides you can't be that bad of a person. After all, you came with Ace, of all people, to come and find me. I never said it, but… _thank you_." I gave him the biggest smile—teeth and all—I've ever gave anyone in my life before, even Alice.

He went completely still staring at my face. _Uh, did I say something wrong again? _I watched as his face slowly turned bright red from his neck all the way to his ears. _Aw crap, did I make him angry?_

"I-I'm sorry, d-did I do something wrong?!" I waved my hands back and forth in alarm. "P-please don't get weirded out. I'm sorry I'm so creepy!" He turned away from me, a hand covering his face. "I'm sorry!"

"N-no, you're fine, I-I just wasn't expecting you to say something like that." _Did he just stutter?_

"Oh… I'm glad, you're not angry then… You wouldn't mind if I stayed at your place for a while, Mr. Monrey, would you?"

He finally looked at me, but his hand still covered the bottom half of his face. "You want to stay with me?"

"Just for a little while, I figure that since Miss Alice is moving around the country quite a bit that she'll eventually come back to the tower. I would rather not camp any longer than I have to with Ace, and you're the only one in the country who isn't either trying to burst my ear-drums, make me piss my pants, excuse my crude language, sexually molest me, or kill me. So suffice to say, I trust you more than anyone else in this country."

"I see…"

"I know I still owe you for… everything, but I don't have any money to pay you back, right now."

"What about the money I gave you?"

"Uh, about that," I poked my fingers together, my face flushing from embarrassment, "a cat-boy kinda used me, and dried me up of all the money."

"Boris?" I nodded my head. Julius sighed, "I should've guessed."

"But until I find a way to make money, I'll repay you in other areas."

"Other… areas?"

"Yes, I _am _a certified servant of the Liddell family after all, I know how to do everything from cooking to cleaning and even massaging, and I can easily be trained on how to do new chores, I was taught to be very flexible with any task you see. If you'd like I could even aid you with fixing the clocks, but… I don't think you would appreciate it, if I took over your work."

"And what if I said 'no' to your services?"

"No? …Really? Usually people would jump at the chance to have me as their servant, as I assure you I am _quite_ skilled. I was sent into being a trained as a servant when I was only four years old."

"Four years old? Isn't that a little young?"

"Yes, I suppose, but… I was an exception."

"An exception?"

I started fumbling with my hands becoming uncomfortable to discuss something so personal with a man I barely knew. "I'm an orphan. My mother died when I was quite young, I don't remember her, and my father… no one knew who my father was… but the Liddell family were kind enough to take me in and raise me." I flinched remembering the cruelty I went through as a child.

"_You are now to serve the Liddell family," the Head Maid stared me down._

_I bit my bottom lip. "I don't wanna." She smacked me across the face and I let out a cry._

"_Your home is here now!" She grabbed my face with her hand and squeezed my cheeks painfully. "Be grateful that Lord Liddell was kind enough to let scum like you into his residence! And from now on, you will speak properly. If I hear one improper word from you, from this day forth, you will receive punishment. Do you understand?" I didn't answer her. "Do you understand?!"_

"_Yes, ma'am."_

"_Good. Now go clean yourself up, Lord Liddell doesn't take kindly to servants who soil his carpet."_

"I owe them everything. If they didn't take me in, I probably wouldn't be here today; I probably would have been abandoned on the streets of London, left to beg in filth."

"Then who did you stay with before the Liddell family?"

"I…" Memories of the man who housed me flashed through my mind.

"_No, daddy, please don't make me go in there! I don't want to go in there!" I begged the short-stocky man, tears slid down my face._

"_I'M NOT YOUR FATHER!" He grabbed me roughly by my hair, and threw me into the broiler room. "NOW, GET IN THERE YOU FILTH!" He slammed the metal door shut behind me, and I could hear the clunk of lock from the other side as it shut in place._

_I ran to the door and started banging on it with my tiny hands. "Let me out! LET ME OUT!" I could feel the temperature rising. Snot along with salty tears ran down my chin but quickly dried up in the hot room. "DADDY!" I screamed._

I flinched away from my own memories. "Th-that doesn't matter. I'm a servant of the Liddell family… that's all that matters." I wrapped my arms around myself, hugging myself tightly in some sort of reassurance that I was here, I wasn't there with _him_.

Julius didn't push me any further, and I was thankful for that. I wasn't ready to reveal my story just yet, in fact I don't think I ever will, after all, I promised. And I will not break my promise.

"Wow, that's the most I've ever heard you talk, Julius." I jumped off the bench and whipped around, Julius looked a bit startled as well. My eyes deadpanned when I saw it was a familiar knight.

"Oh, it's you, Ace."

"Haha, you sound disappointed at that."

I suspiciously observed Ace, and the two rabbits he had in each hand. _Great, _more_ rabbit for dinner._ "How long have you been listening to the conversation?"

"Since the part where you thought that _I_ was unique and special." Next thing I knew I was stuck in another one of his hugs, discomfort came over me again. I was unused to his touching. I didn't understand why he had to touch so much. It felt… weird. "You're so sweet, Angel."

"Sir Ace, please let go of me."

"Nah, I don't wanna. By the way, what's this I heard about someone sexually molesting you?" His arms tightened protectively around me… or was it _possessively_?

Both Julius and I gave Ace the look that read, _Are you an idiot? The person who is sexually molesting him/me is you._ I sighed, knowing that Ace probably wouldn't get the message.

"Ace, let go."

"Yay, you finally informally said my name!" His hug intensified if that was even possible.

_That's it!_ I slammed my foot against his leg and as soon as I felt his hold weaken I kneed him in the gut.

"Ow," he held his stomach as fell to the ground, "Angel, why?"

"I warned you, didn't I?"

"No! You didn't!" I sighed for what seemed the millionth time today.

"I'm sorry, Ace, but I don't feel comfortable with hugging, or even touching for that matter, okay?"

"Whyyyyy?" he whined.

"I just don't!"

"You're just as bad as Julius!" Julius glared over at Ace, when he heard his name mentioned. "Don't tell me, you didn't get enough hugs as a child?" His question caught me off guard.

"Wh-what kind of question is that?!"

"The fact that you're avoiding the question means that I'm right!"

"No, that doesn't!" I growled, "I've gotten… hugged as a child."

"You hesitated."

"No, I didn't!" I waved my arms in the air. "Why do you have to be _so_ difficult!?"

"Okay, if you were hugged as a child, then who hugged you, or was it your imaginary friend?" I scowled at him, before I shyly blushed poking my two fingers together.

"I was hugged by… Miss Alice…."

"I knew it! You do have a crush on her!" He pointed at me accusingly.

"I _don't _have a crush on her!" I snapped at him. "I see her as a friend, or maybe even as a sister—" I smacked a hand over my mouth. I just disgraced the Liddell name. I have no right to see Alice as family. No right at all!

"So… you _do_ have a crush on her?" _Ugh, now he's just being an idiot on purpose._

"You can be quite the idiot at times; you know that right, Sir Ace?"

"Whatever do you mean?" He looked genuinely confused, but I knew that he knew exactly what he was talking about. I ignored him and turned my attention to Julius.

"I kinda wish I gave my handkerchief to you too…" I spoke absentmindedly.

"And why would that be?"

"Well, when I went to the Hatter Residence…" I explained the whole story about the twins chasing me because it was 'fun' and losing my handkerchief and them taking it as a prize.

"Wait, what?!" Ace stood up from watching the rabbits cook over the fire. "They took it?!" He looked… angry… it was scary.

"Ace, calm down."

"No, I won't calm down! I'll skin those little—!"

"Ace! I said, 'calm down'."

"But you said that handkerchief was your most precious treasure."

"And it _is_. I'll be the one to get it back. I'm the one who lost it and I'll be the one who gets it back."

"But they tried to kill you!"

"Yes, I'm highly aware of that. I'll just have to find a way to get it back." I was a bit unsure myself. How in the bloody hell will I be able to get it back? "I'll think of something."

"Perhaps, when you find Alice, she'll be able to help you." Julius offered.

"No, no, that's the worst case scenario!" Julius raised an eyebrow. "If she knew I lost the _one_ thing she gave me, she'll… she'll..." Oh, hell I didn't know what she would do. A depressed aura came up around me. "She'll never forgive me…"

"She might not even remember giving it to you," Ace spoke up.

"She—!" I cut myself off. Ace might be right… no! She has to remember! "She does!"

We were finished our dinner, quickly, before calling it a night. I lay down on the soft grass not too far away from the fire. I felt something poke me in the side.

"Ace, I'm really not—" I looked up expecting to see Ace, but instead it was Julius.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, trying to sleep?"

"Out here?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Get in the tent," he ordered crossing his arms over his chest. I frowned.

"Why?"

"I don't want Ace trying anything unusual on me." _Wow, thanks. If he's going to be trying anything weird on anyone, it's going to be me._ "If you want to stay at the Clock Tower, you will do this." Wow, now he's using that against me.

I thought about the situation. I'll be stuck in a tent in the middle of nowhere with two full grown men. At least Julius will be there, so if Ace _does_ try anything weird on me, Julius will just hit him or something. "Fine… but only because you're blackmailing me." Julius didn't reply to that comment.

I crawled into the tent, and Ace gave me a surprised look. "You're joining me?"

"No! I'm only sleeping in here because Mr. Monrey told me to."

"What? You'll do what he says, but you won't listen to me."

"Yep."

Julius set up his sleeping bag on the far side of tent opposite of Ace… which meant I had to sleep in the middle. Yay, for me. Note the sarcasm.

I laid down in the middle seeing as there were only two sleeping bags. Ace took notice of that right away.

"Angel, if you ever get chilly, you can always sleep with me~." He held his sleeping bag open waiting for me to 'join him'.

"No way."

"Aww…" His eyes wandered over to Julius. "Oh, I see." _Huh, what did he see?_ "We could all have a threesome if you want."

"WHAT?!" Both Julius and I yelled out at the same time, giving him looks of horror.

"What's wrong with the idea?"

"Oh my Lord, Mr. Monrey, please deal with him because," I held up my hand shielding my eyes from Ace, "I can't look at him the same ever again."

"Ace, go to sleep!"

"Wha? But—"

"SHUT UP, AND SLEEP, ACE!" Julius and I shouted at the same time. _Wow, Julius and I really have a connection with one another when we're both annoyed with Ace._ At least I'm not alone in my annoyance. I cried happily… not really, but still.

"You guys are no fun." Ace mumbled.

I laid on my back, observing the fabric of the tent's top. Julius had his back facing Ace and I.

"Angel? Why are you so far awaayy?" Ace whispered, finally taking notice of the huge amount of distance I put between us, I was only a foot away from Julius.

"Because of what you said. It was so wrooonngg."

"How could it be wrong, when it's so right!?" I noticed that Ace was scooting closer towards me with his sleeping bag. _No, don't get any closer! Please!_

I shivered, and scooted away from him, bumping into Julius. _Crap._ Julius slowly turned his body, and glared the most terrifying glare I've ever seen in my life towards Ace. Ace immediately scooted backwards towards the other side of the tent. I let out a sigh of relief, and then suddenly Julius's glare was trained on me. Sweat beaded on my forehead as my face paled, I slowly shrunk away from him. _Scary… Julius is really scary when he's angry._ This time I rested perfectly in the middle between Ace and Julius, but this time I didn't have to worry about Ace trying anything on me. I knew that he was just as terrified to move as I was.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

She was stuck in the mansion with the twins while Blood and Elliot were out on a mission together. The twins showed her their 'treasures' of which she will not dare mention, but there was one that caught her eye.

"Dee, Dum, what's this?" She picked up a white handkerchief. She ran her fingers over the soft, silk. White roses with a hint of blue were embroidered on the edges. It seemed so familiar.

"Oh, that! We found that when we were chasin' out a trespasser!"

"Ha! Yeah, he didn't stand a chance! He was so scared 'o us I thought he was gonna wet his pants." Dum snickered. Alice frowned. There was another trespasser? She hoped he was able to get away, but when it came to the twins she knew he probably didn't make it.

The door opened behind them, revealing Elliot. "There you are." He immediately lightened up when he saw Alice. "Hey, Alice." Alice put down the handkerchief completely forgetting about it.

"How did the mission go?" Alice went out into the hall with Elliot. Not that she wanted to know what they _did_ on the mission.

"It didn't go as well as planned."

"Actually it went better than I hoped." The Hatter appeared behind Elliot.

"Really, boss?"

Blood looked past Elliot, a look passing through his eyes that Alice knew well. "I found a new _toy_ to play with."

* * *

**Hope y'all liked the chapter! I gave you guys a mini glimpse at Blake's memories as a child. Haha, poor Blake. Ace is being such a perv! Glad Julius set him straight. ^^**

**Ace: What you mean that I'm a perv? *smiling***

**Julius: *Julius appears behind Ace* Go... to... sleep..**

**Ace: *shrinks away***

**Void: O.o ...scary... anyways please review! Any suggestions or comments you have on the chapter are welcome!**


	8. Chapter VIII: Dream Demon and Cuddles

**Here's the next chapter! It's a little short, but I like it, and I hope you guys like it too!**

**Thanks for the reviews _Meadow Melody_ and _Allora22701_! And also thank you for the review Guest and yes, I am amazing. :D**

**Ace: *smiles* No, you're not.**

**Void: What did you say, knight?**

**Ace: I said-**

**Blake: What I think he means to say is that he hopes there will be more reviews.**

**Ace: That's not what I-**

**Void: Oh, is that right? Thanks, Ace. He's right guys. I want a good _five_ reviews for this chapter.**

**Ace: But-**

**Void: I know this story is dragging out for a long time, but please let me know if you have any questions, or comments, and _suggestions_ are welcome! I want you guys to enjoy this story as much as I want to! And this story will start going down the drain in popularity (which it's starting to ;_;) so please critiques are highly welcome.**

**Ace: Quit ignoring me-**

**Blake: Oh, I'll do the disclaimer! VoidDrifter does not own J/C/HnKnA, QuinRose does.**

**Ace: *pouting in a corner* Why is everyone ignoring me?**

**Void: Enjoy the story!**

* * *

_Chapter VIII: The Dream Demon and Morning Cuddles_

***Blake's POV***

I was surrounded by gray, and every now and then a swirl of a random color would burst into bright shimmering clouds. _Where am I?_ I took a few steps forward. _Where's Ace and Julius?_

"They're in another realm." An unfamiliar voice spoke behind me. I spun around to see a silver-haired man floating above me. _He's… floating?_ He smiled. "You're in the Dream Realm, _my_ domain. Here, I control everything." I didn't like the sound of that. I tilted my head, and turned my body to the side in a sign of suspicion.

"And who exactly are you?" I kept my voice even, refusing to let fear show through.

"I'm Nightmare, a dream demon, the embodiment of bad dreams." His voice was smooth and as mysterious as the abyss. _A dream demon?_

"Bad dreams, huh? Then why is it that I'm not afraid of you?"

He smiled again. "You should be." _Why does he smile so much, he's beginning to remind me of Ace… ugh, Ace._ My eye twitched slightly. _He better not try anything on me in my sleep._

"No need to worry, I'm nothing like Ace, and no, he's fast asleep, he won't be 'trying' anything on you anytime soon." He chuckled softly. _Wait… can he… read my thoughts?_ "Yes, but to be more specific, I can hear your thoughts, not read them." _… Damn, now he's going to hear all my informal thoughts… and he just heard that too... I really need to stop swearing in my head._

I bit the inside of my cheek as I observed him. His chin-length hair parted perfectly down the middle and it faded from silver into a sort of purplish hue. _Interesting._ He had a black eye-patch with gold trimming covering his right eye (it reminded me quite a bit of those pirate eye patches in those adventure novels) and the eye that was visible was a soft silver color. _A bit unusual as I've never seen anyone with eyes like his before, but once again interesting._ He wore quite the unusual outfit with petticoat of some sort that was sleeveless. _That's quite the unusual outfit…_

Nightmare laughed. "You're very observant I see; I'm glad you find me so 'interesting'."

"Glad? What is there glad to be about? In fact, why are you here in my dream? Last I checked, I'm zero interesting."

"Why am I here? No, the question is why are _you_ here?" I narrowed my eyes defensively.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not supposed to be here. I never arranged for another outsider to come here to Wonderland." _Wonderland? Wait… I'm stuck in a children's book!? No way…_ Sweat dripped down my face. _Does that mean this is a dream? No… I went clinically insane!_ I put my hands on my head. _But I thought I was perfectly sane! Alice was the one who I thought was going—wait! Alice!_ "You're very talkative… in your head."

"You…" I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and brought him close to my face. "Are you the one who took Miss Alice away?!" I yelled, I felt anger pulsating through my veins, it frightened me. I never felt such anger in such a long time, not since. A flash of my younger-self went through my head, the me before I met Alice. The one that didn't care if the world burned.

_My gold eyes were empty as I walked through the hallways, alone. One day, they'll see, one day, they'll regret for ever trapping me in this cage—_somewhere in my head I had a twinge of pain that stopped me from thinking about that memory.

My hands slipped slightly on the front of his shirt. "Are you the one who took Miss Alice away from me…?" Me? For the first time ever I realized that I wasn't just worried about Alice for her family's sake, but for my own sake as well. _I_ was scared of losing Alice too.

Nightmare's eyes were wide for a few seconds before they softened. "I wasn't the one who took Alice; I'm merely the one who connected her to this place."

My grip loosened a bit. "But you still helped the one who took her away."

"Yes, but I did it to help her."

"Help her?"

"She was unhappy in your world, wasn't she?" I looked away from him, and swallowed.

"She was…" My eyes saddened. No matter how hard I tried to cheer her up to at least acknowledge the world around, nothing worked and when she did acknowledge the world around her, she would start crying. I couldn't do anything! All I could do was watch as she tore herself apart, and there was nothing, _nothing_ I could do, and I _hated_ that. I hated not being able to help her when she needed me most. I hated that I couldn't help her when she helped me so long ago. I hated that I was so weak! And I hated that even now I couldn't find her, no matter how hard I tried. _I guess I'm just not trying hard enough… I'm so weak._ I let go of the dream demon.

"I helped bring her to this world so she could be happy. I faded away her memories of her sister's death, so she didn't have to suffer anymore."

My eyes widened. _That's why Alice was talking to herself? She literally thought Lorina was still alive._ I should be angry right now at this man for forcefully erasing Alice's memories, _especially _without _my_ consent.

"I'm sorry," he sweated nervously.

But I wasn't angry strangely enough. Usually if it were to be the same situation with anyone else I would be strangling them to death just about now. I saw him flinch at that. "You know for being a demon, you seem to be scared of me. So what does that make me I wonder?" I cruelly smirked.

"A young man, who both hates and fears himself." My eyes widened. "You hate yourself for being so weak. You fear yourself because you don't know what you're capable of." My heart twisted in a painful way, and I flinched. He was half-right. I was terrified of myself. But for the reason why I hate myself he got wrong. "That's a surprise. Usually I'm right, care to tell me why you hate yourself."

"No, I don't care to tell. Not at all." I crossed my arms. "Besides, I told you, I'm not interesting."

He smiled. "What's your name?" _What?_ I frowned at him.

"You don't even know my name, some dream demon you are."

"H-hey! I couldn't get a good interpretation on you; in fact I didn't even know you were in Wonderland until a few moments ago." He puffed out his cheeks cutely. I slightly blushed. _Oh my Lord, why is this demon so… adorable?! Is this why people get stuck in demon contracts sometimes? Because they can't resist the…_ I noticed he was staring at me funny. He pointed to himself. "You think I'm cute?"

I coughed and looked away. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, I think you must be hallucinating or something. You must have a really big imagination." I poked him in the forehead.

"Hey! You're mean!" Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, and I smiled amusedly. "You're not allowed to be amused by me!" He whined his arms waving wildly in the air, and I began full on laughing.

"You're a strange demon that's for sure hehahaha!" I was laughing so hard I was holding my sides. I covered my mouth with the back of my left hand, in a failed attempt to muffle my laughs.

"I'm not strange! I'm—blarghh!" Blood spluttered out of his mouth and onto the ground. I immediately stopped laughing. _Oh my God!_ I rushed over to him.

"What happened?" Worry washed over me, as I squatted beside him. "Are you okay?" I placed a hand on his back and unconsciously started rubbing my hand into gentle circles.

"I'm fine. I'm just sick." _Sick? But I was always told that demons can't get sick._ "Yes, they can! They—huachkk!" He coughed up more blood.

"You liar, you're not fine." Now that I thought of it, his skin was quite pale; it was even paler than mine! I also noticed that he had a slight violet tinge to his lips. _ How exactly long has he been sick for?_

"For as long as I could remember I've been sick, even when I was a kid."

"Oh… that's… horrible. Did you go to a hospital or anything?"

"Yeah, all the time…. I don't go anymore."

"What? Why? You'll never get better, if you don't get help."

He deadpanned. "Hospitals are scary." _Uhh… huh…_

My voice softened, "Too many hospital visits as a child, huh? And I suppose you're afraid of needles too."

"Yeah, wait, how did you know that?" He looked at me in curiosity.

"I guess I knew someone from my world that was a bit like you. He had severe asthma, and would end up going to the hospital quite often. He hated it, he said it was incredibly boring and he would rather play outside all day."

"What happened to him?"

I looked sadly to the ground. "He… died. He had an asthma attack, and… then he was gone. I was there when it happened…"

_A boy with blond hair held his hands to his throat as he wheezed heavily. I cried out, "Hang on, just a little bit longer. Somebody HELP! HELP!"_

_By the time help arrived… he was already dead. His glazed over azure eyes staring at the clouds._

Nightmare's eyes were wide as he stared at me, and I realized my mistake. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to see that."

"Was he special to you?" His question caught me off guard. I bit my bottom lip.

"Yes… I suppose he was." I grew sad. "Haha here I am selfishly thinking about me, when I should be concentrating on you."

"Wha? Me?!"

"Why of course. You're the sick one here, so you're most important." I watched his face turn red. "Haha, by the way it's Blake."

"Huh?"

"My name, and if you haven't already guessed, I'm a servant of the Liddell family."

"A servant? But you act so noble." I blushed embarrassingly at his compliment.

"I-I wouldn't say that." I'm not used to compliments at all. I looked away.

"But you are. You act nobler than most nobles I know." I covered my face.

"Stop it! I'm not!" He opened his mouth to say more, but I hushed him by placing a finger over his lips. "Not another word." Noticing that I was acting improper, I immediately recoiled my finger back and took my hand off him. I took a few steps back away from him to keep a respectable distance. "I'm sorry for touching you without your permission, sir." I bowed. "That was incredibly rude of me; I will not do so again."

He quietly regarded me for a few moments; I could feel myself growing nervous under his stare. "Why are you here?" he repeated his question from before.

"I'm here for Miss Alice. It is my top priority to ensure her safety… and to eventually take her home, but… now… I guess I won't fully decide on anything until I see her."

"That's reasonable enough." I noticed his shoulders slightly relax. "How _did_ you get here?"

"Uhh…" I frowned as I felt my mind become foggy. _Why can't I remember?_ I pressed two fingers to my temple as I tried to recall the events that happened after I was thrown into the cell. _The light went out and—ngh!_ Sharp pain pierced through my scowl. I breathed heavily. _What the hell was that?!_ I glared at the dream demon. "Did you do something to me?" _He did erase Alice's memories why would that stop him from tampering with my mind?_

"No! I didn't do anything! It takes time to erase someone's memory, and I just met you!"

"Then explain why I can't remember."

"I-I don't know. There's only one other person that I know of who can do such a thing," he scowled, "But I don't see why he would be interested in you."

I fake smiled. "Because I'm not interesting."

He twitched realizing his mistake. "I-I didn't mean it like that!" He suddenly paused. "We'll talk later."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

He smirked. "You're in quite the interesting position."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's time for you to wake up."

"Wait," I tried to grab for him, but he levitated out of my reach, "I'm not done talking to you!" All I heard was his mysterious laughter, before the world around me faded.

My eyes slid slightly open. Coolness was wrapped gently around me, usually I would shy away from the cold, but this just felt so… calming. I snuggled in closer to this coolness and let out a sigh of content as I could feel it wrap tighter around me and bring me closer. My heart beat softly in my chest as a small smile graced my face. I haven't felt this safe in a long time.

The deep smell of coffee hit my nose, but instead of waking me up like it commonly would I could feel my self being lulled back to sleep.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

He could feel the small bundle of warmth move closer to his chest, and he eagerly obliged, hugging his arms around it and pressing it against his chest. Its warmth spread through his chest and throughout his entire body. His clock ticked faster. He inhaled its sweet scent of honey and clovers with a hint of calming chamomile, like the morning dew off of fresh grass. Refreshing and calming all at the same time. But there hasn't been a morning period in such a long time. It was rare when it happened. Noon, Evening, and Dusk were the only time periods that happened now.

Confusion rose even more within him when the mortician heard a sharp sniggering not too far off.

Without opening his eyes he could easily tell who it was. "Ace, quiet. I'm trying to sleep." Irritated, he buried my face into softness, it tickled his nose.

"Pffft! Hahahehaha!" Ace burst out laughing.

"Ace, I said '_shut up'_," Julius growled, but his voice was muffled.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!"

Julius's eyes snapped open and he glared at the rowdy knight. "Shut _up_!"

"I didn't know that Julius was the cuddly type hehehahaha!" Julius stared at the knight as if he just lost his head… oh wait, he lost it long ago.

At that moment, the mortician could feel something stirring in his arms. "Hm?" He looked down to see the boy whose honey gold eyes slid open, staring into Julius's eyes for a long time. The boy's expression was puzzled as he blinked his eyes tiredly at Julius.

"Mr. Monrey…?"

Julius felt the deepest blush in his entire life rise to his cheeks as he realized what he's done. His arms were wrapped around Blake this entire time! He was shoving my face into his hair! And worst of all, he noted that their legs were tangled together.

"Wh-what're you…?" Julius shoved the boy away from him before he could fully process the situation. "Oof!"

Ace just continued rolling on the tent floor laughing his guts out.

He covered his face with his hands in complete shame. _How could I do such a shameful thing? With a young boy no less!_ Was he turning into some sort of pedophile? He felt himself shiver in self-disgust.

Blake held his head as he confusingly looked at his surroundings. "Ngh, what happened? Owww, my head…" He rubbed his temples in pain, he scowled at Julius. "What was that for? What the bloody hell did I ever do to you?"

Julius refused to answer the boy and retreated from the tent. Ace continued his hyena laughter and Julius felt his eye twitch.

"Ace, will you stop laughing already!" Blake yelled at the riled-up knight. "It's so annoying!"

"Heey~Julius! If you wanted a threesome, why didn't you just say so? Last night you were so against it, but now~!" At every word Ace said the mortician felt his face getting darker and darker.

"Ace, what're you talking about?"

"Eh? What do you mean, Angel? Didn't you realize that Julius was the one who was cuddling you~?"

"Wh-what?" Blake squeaked out, Julius could hear the embarrassment in his voice. Great, now Blake knew what he did. Julius could feel his shoulders shaking. He's going to kill that knight!

Ace came out of the tent with Blake behind him. "Awww, look at that~! Julius is so embarrassed!"

"Ace, you should really stop doing that. You're going to make him angry." Oh, how right the boy was.

"Nah, he's fine—" Julius slowly turned around and gave Ace a dark glare pulling out a wrench. "Crap, he _is _angry." Ace grabbed Blake throwing the boy over his shoulder. "Run!"

"A-Ace! Put me down!" Blake pounded on his back, but soon stopped when he saw that Julius was Ace's tail with his wrench held up high in the air. Hell bent on killing the both of them.

"Not a chance!"

Are they ever going to make it back to the tower?

* * *

**Void: It's about time I put Nightmare in the story! He's so lovable! X3**

**Julius: No, he's not. He's irresponsible and childish.**

**Nightmare: *gasps* You're so mean! I think you're just grumpy because you can't have Blake because he's a boy.**

**Julius: That's not it at all. *growls***

**Nightmare: I don't even have to listen to your thoughts to know it's true!**

**Blake: Huh? What's going on here?**

**Julius: ... **

**Nightmare: Oh, Julius here is grumpy because he-mmmprrgggffff!**

**Julius: Not another word, demon.**

**Blake: Okay, then... well, ladies and gents (if there are any guys reading this story), Miss Void hopes to receive many reviews.**

**Nightmare: Where did Void go?**

**Blake: *points to Void who's sulking in the shadows***

**Nightmare: Oh...**

**Blake: She's a bit upset right now, because when she checked the traffic stats for today, no one even viewed the story, so...**

**Julius: She checks that?**

**Blake: Yes, she has rather... grown quite the obsession with her story and becomes really excited when she sees that people are actually looking at, but since no one has so far...**

**Nightmare: She looks pale, almost sick...**

**Julius: Like you're one to talk.**

**Blake: *ignores Nightmare and Julius's bickering* Please, Void needs at least _5 reviews_ in order to submit the next chapter. *bows* Thank you, for your time.**


	9. Chapter IX: Coffee Madness

**Hey guys! Sorry about the delay, we had major thunderstorms and the power went out -_-**

**And thank you for all the reviews! :D I'm so happy~!**

_**Special Thanks to:**_

_**Meadow Melody**_**:****Thank you for your review and your support for the story as always. ^^**

_**FloraRose23**_**:**** Thank you for the review, and sorry about the awkwardness with your brother ^^; I hope you like this chapter. You're opinions and suggestions are always welcome. :)**

_**Allora22701**_**: Hehe you are indeed evil XD poor Ace. Hope you'll like this chapter, and thanks for the review. ^^**

_**Lurking Pheonix**_**: I'm glad you love the story so far, and Ace's character :D I hope you'll follow Blake's journey to the end. Thanks for the review and for favoriting the story! And I hope _A Dragon's Heart_ will remain as one of your favorites :)**

_**50-50-90**_**: Thanks for following the story! I hope you'll find the time to review soon ^^**

_**Smileyface18493**_**: Haha I'm glad this story is one of your favorites! And I hope it will remain that way. :D Congratulations by the way, you're the first person to both follow my story and me, and favorite my story and me all at the same time! :D It makes me really happy you like that story (and my writing skills) that much!**

**_Ruby Salamander_: Thank for favoriting and following the story~! I hope I'll hear what your opinion of the story is one day in a review. ^^**

**_xxxMeowMeowxxx_: I'm sorry, I meant to say thank you to you in the previous chapter ;_; I hope you'll forgive me... and thank you so much for following this story.**

**Void: I hope you guys will love this chapter. *grinning* Now Ace! The disclaimer!**

**Ace: ...**

**Void: Ace? Are you ignoring me?**

**Ace: ...**

**Void: *cracking knuckles* Ace...**

**Ace: *hiding behind Blake* ...**

**Blake: Ace? What's wrong? You can talk to me.**

**Ace: ... *looks at Blake sadly***

**Blake: Are you unable to speak?**

**Ace: *miserably nods head yes***

**Blake: *here write down what happened***

**Ace: *scribbles onto the paper and hands it to Blake***

**Blake: You took a potion from Allora chan? She said that if you took it no one would ignore you again... so she lied?**

**Ace: *nods head furiously***

**Void: BWAHAHAHA I KNEW I LIKED HER! *grins* You're an idiot for falling for that trick, Ace. Sometimes it's better to be ignored, but have people still notice your presence, than not to have a presence at all!**

**Ace: *cries silently in a corner***

**Blake: *comforting him* There, there...**

**Void: I don't own J/C/HnKnA, QR does.. I only own Blake... and the OC you'll find in this chapter. Now go on! Read!**

* * *

_Chapter IX: Coffee Madness_

***Blake's POV***

When Julius caught up to us, I thought it was all over.

"_Hahaha, he's really angry!" Ace laughed loudly, irritating the already vexed man chasing us even more so._

"_You idiot! This isn't something you should be laughing about."_

"_Ahh, don't worry, Angel. Julius isn't a very good runner." Sure enough, Julius began to slow down behind them, before stopping and holding his stomach trying to catch his breath._

"_Oh… I see…"_

"_Don't worry I won't let Julius catch us! I'll take a shortcut!" At least he's not stupid enough to let Julius catch up… wait—SHORT CUT!_

"_Noooo, Ace! Put me down!" I pounded his back and for the first time I felt lightheaded. "I don't," my poundings slowed down, "want us… to get… lost…" I went limp. I think all the blood in my body rushed to my head._

"_Ah, don't worry, Angel. I won't let us get lost!" He grinned. "Hm? Angel? Are you okay?"_

"_Ugh…" I groaned as it felt as if my ears were going to pop at any moment. Ace brought me fully into his arms bridal style._

"_Oh, sorry, Angel, I don't want you to die on me." He smiled._

_My eyebrow twitched. "You seem pretty happy about that." He just continued smiling anyways._

"_Why would I be happy about that? I would be sad; if you died you wouldn't be able to get lost with me anymore."_

"_Lost? I knew it we are going to get lost, AGAIN!"_

"_Now, now, don't be like that, Angel. I won't let us get lost."_

We were lost for hours.

"_Hmm… that's strange." I watched Ace scratch his head in confusion, before turning towards me and giving me a thumbs up. "We're totally lost!"_

_My body was twitching. If Julius didn't get here soon, _I'm_ going to be the first one to kill Ace. "Not surprising… not surprising at all." I began walking the opposite direction where Ace was headed._

"_Where are you going, Angel?"_

_I stepped through some bushes. "Away from you." I had to get away from him, before he 'accidently' becomes a murder victim._

"_Aww, don't be like that." I could hear him following me._

"_Stay away from me, if you know what's good for you." Suddenly I was tackled from behind, and I fell to the ground. "Oof!" Ace was lying right on top of me. "Ace, get off! You're too heavy." I could feel his hot breath on the back of my neck._

"_Please, teach me what's good for me." He flipped me over so I was facing up; he held both my hands down by my wrists effectively trapping me. I squirmed at the highly intimate position we were in. Ace leaned down so his lips were only centimeters from my ear, and he whispered, "Because I can't stay away."_

"_A-Ace," I let out a gasp as I felt something wet and warm swirl around the outside of my ear before dipping into my ear canal. D-did he just lick my ear?! "Ace, what're you doi—ah!" He nipped my ear._

"_I love the little sounds you make; I wonder what your heart sounds like even more." He placed a hand on my chest and I could feel my face flaming from blushing so hard. "Ahh, it's so beautiful." He looked into my eyes. "You're so beautiful." I could feel my heart skip a beat. B-beautiful? N-no one has ever called me that before. _

And then He found us.

_The bushes rustled above us revealing Julius. "There you two are." He had a shocked expression, when he saw the position the two of us were in._

_I didn't know whether or not to be embarrassed and want him to look away or to be embarrassed and have him save me. I chose the latter. My eyes teared up, yes with actual tears. "Mr. Monrey, please, help me," I whimpered, looking up at him in the eyes. He twitched and a tinge of pink covered his cheeks. Is he blushing? Suddenly he turned and walked the other way. "No, wait!" I held up my hand seeing as Ace loosened his grip on my hand. My fingers were outstretched towards his retreating form. "Come back!"_

_Ace grabbed my hand and pushed it back onto the ground. He smiled at me. "It seems that Julius approves." He leaned his face down closer to mine._

"_Ace?" I squeaked as his nose brushed against mine._

"_Haha, you're so cute. Much cuter than Alice." His breath warmed my lips as he inclined his lips toward mine, when… he was ripped off me. I laid frozen on the ground. Oh my God. Oh my God. . Ace almost KISSED ME! I slowly sat up, to see Ace being held by the back of his overcoat by Julius. "Aww, Julius! No fair! And I was just getting to the good part~!"_

_Julius narrowed his eyes at Ace, before turning his glare at me. "And what was the 'good part', might I ask?"_

_Why the bloody hell was he accusing me? "I didn't do anything! It was this harlot who was the one that sexually assaulted me." I yelled out in frustration._

"_It's not sexual assault if you like it~!" Ace offered up so 'helpfully'._

"_I assure you I did not enjoy it one bit!"_

"_Really? Because you kept making all those delicious sounds—"_

"_No! Just stop! I didn't expect you to do something like that! Out of all the things—I'm a BOY for crying out loud. It's not my fault if perverts like you people keep trying to take advantage of me!" I stiffened as I realized my mistake. Julius's gaze darkened. "Ah, no, Mr. Monrey, I-I didn't mean it like that." He grabbed me by the back of my vest with his free hand. "I'm sorry! I take it back! You never tried to take advantage of me, well except when we were waking up," I could feel his grip tightening, "but I realize that it was a mistake! You didn't mean it! Please, don't kill meeeee."_

And then He dragged us off into the sunset. Okay the sun wasn't really setting, it was still Noon, but you get the point.

He hauled us all the way back to the Clock Tower then proceeded to give us a lecture in fine detail of the exact process of how steel is hardened and why. Why are people with glasses so scary when they're angry? Especially a Julius with glasses!

I was sitting on the edge of the couch in Julius's office, sweating as I remembered what Julius did to Ace. I shivered, I will not repeat the details all I will say that even Ace didn't deserve the horrors that Julius put him through.

For once all the clocks ticking in Julius's workroom didn't calm me, in fact they made me more anxious. I wrung my hands together. The silence that once was so peaceful was now filled with tension. _I feel so awkward; maybe it was a bad idea to live with him._ I glanced over at Julius who was working diligently on the huge clock pile that built up in a manner of two days. _It's my fault that he's so far behind in work. I should be grateful that he allowed me to say here. Especially after all the awkward situations we've been through. _A blush of embarrassment rose to my cheeks as I remembered the tent incident. I couldn't believe that Julius was the one who did that, if it was Ace I wouldn't have been surprised, but Julius? And then when Julius found Ace and I in that… awkward situation, I felt guilty? How could that be right? I didn't feel any sort of loyalty to Julius, did I? That couldn't be right; I was only loyal to Alice, no one else.

I groaned in frustration and buried my face into my hands.

"If you're so bored, why don't you make yourself useful and do something?" Julius snapped at me. Why did I get the feeling that Julius's hostility level towards me increased astronomically?

"But I already did everything I could think of, I cleaned the kitchen and threw out all of the expired perishables and set up traps to take care of your vermin problem." Well, there was one thing that I didn't do… which is probably why Julius is so cross with me right now. I didn't feed his coffee addiction. I stood up, stretched and left the room without a word.

I brewed Julius's coffee just the way he liked it, black and strong without any cream. Its strong scent hit my nostrils and I curled up my lip in revulsion. I couldn't understand how anyone could drink coffee this strong on a normal basis. Personally I liked my coffee mild and with quite a bit of cream, or if available, the delicate taste of jasmine tea.

I held Julius's mug safely in both my hands, and its hot steam hit me in the face. That's what I needed to do. I needed to shop for food and make a real dinner for Julius… and somehow convince him to sleep.

I placed the coffee mug on Julius's desk, before walking to the door. But to shop I need money, and I refuse to borrow any more money from Julius, so that meant I had to find a job. Easy enough, right? I placed my hand on the door's handle to open it, when Julius's voice stopped me.

"Where are you going?" I paused before saying one word.

"Out." I left the Clock Tower.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

I walked through the bustling streets not too far away from the Clock Tower Plaza. No one paid me mind as I returned the favor. My eyes searched the front of each shop for any signs that said they were hiring. I noticed a group of guys hanging out in an alleyway; they eyed me as I passed by. A chill went down my spine, and I avoided eye contact.

Just as I was about to give up and head back to the tower a little café caught my eye. I approached it. Over top the door written in cursive was _'Café Populaire'_ in the window was a sign that said 'Help Wanted'.

I entered the diner and a bell let out a little jingle signaling that another 'customer' arrived.

"I'll be there right with you in a minute!" A voice called out from the back.

I took my time to take in the environment around me. It was a quaint little café, the lighting was dim and most of the light came from the large window in the front. Despite the name there weren't too many customers. It was quiet, calming. The smell of coffee and sweets hit my senses and I greedily inhaled. I smiled to myself. Yes, I would love to work in a place such as this.

A short, plump woman emerged from what I assumed was the kitchen. She wore a white apron with little flowers on the edges over her plain brown dress. Her shiny brown hair was pulled back into a bun revealing her full rosy cheeks. She had small round spectacles balanced on her surprisingly tiny nose. Warm brown eyes smiled up at me. I decided at that moment that I was going to like this woman.

"Oh my…" She gasped putting both her hands to her mouth, as she stared at me. I felt a warm smile of amusement rise to my face, usually in this kind of predicament I would feel awkward, but this woman had an aura around her that made me feel at ease.

"Ma'am?" I interrupted her dazed state.

"Oh my, I dearly apologize! Please sit, sit," she kindly guided me over towards a small table by the window; I chuckled at her surprising energy. As soon as I was seated she clapped her hands together causing her arms to jiggle a bit. "Now, what can I do for you, young man? A cup of coffee, maybe?" She had a fruity-sort of voice, it was pleasant.

I put my fingers to my mouth as if I were thinking about it, when I already knew what I came here for. I held up a finger as if something just came to my mind, and her eyes lightened up at that. "Actually… there is one thing you could do for me." I smiled reaching over to the sign hanging in the window, and I turned it so she could see it. "I saw that you were hiring, so… where do I sign up?"

"Oh, how wonderful!" She clapped her hands together excitedly; I noted that she clapped her hands when she was happy. "Please, stand up so I can take a good look at you."

"Why of course." I stood up letting her look me over. I noticed that she was a full six inches shorter than me (including my inch heel in my riding boots). So that put her at an exact five feet tall. She grabbed my chin and turned my face this way and that. _Um, okay…_

"Hmm, yes, yes, you will do nicely. The girls will be flocking at the door when they see your handsome face." I felt myself flush at that. _I don't know if I'd want _that_._ She let go of my chin and gave me a big smile. "I'm Rodi Simmons, the manager, but most people call me 'Rosie', that's what you'll call me from now on as well. Consider yourself hired." I shook her hand.

"Thank you very much, ma'am. My name is Blake by the way." She gave me a look as if I was to say something more. "It's just Blake; I don't have a last name." I kinda was stripped of my last name by the Liddell's.

"Oh, I see!" She nodded her head. "Now get crackin'!" She whapped my bum with her hand, laughing out loud, I jumped not expecting her to do something so… vulgar.

"D-don't I need a uniform, Rosie?"

"Nah, the outfit you're wearing will do just fine. I need to order the outfit for you, and who knows how long it will take to get here in this country!"

Okay, I have a job… now what?

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

She couldn't stop thinking about that handkerchief the twins showed her. It looked so familiar! She just couldn't place her mind to it.

Alice found herself walking towards the gate of Hatter's Residence. She could hear the twins complaining to each other out of complete boredom, she smiled.

"This sucks, brother, no one's comin'; we should jus' skip." Dum whined.

"Yeah… hey, brother?"

"Yeah, Dee?"

"Do you think that dumb man who wanted to take Alice away will come back?" Alice felt herself pause in walking towards them. There was someone who wanted to see her?

"I don't know," Dee mumbled, "he did run pretty quick, he won't be comin' back."

"We did take his handkerchief, wouldn't he want that back?" Dum looked to the side and saw Alice, immediately his face brightened. "Big 'Sis!" He ran over to her with Dee on his heels and hugged Alice around the waist while Dee hugged the other side.

"Yay, Big 'Sis, came to see us. We're so happy!" They smiled up at her with the cutest of smiles. Alice felt herself melt.

"Of course, I came to see you guys. But I couldn't help, but overhear your conversation. Who wanted to see me?" Alice could see that she hit a nerve in the two, as both their faces darkened in anger, but not at her.

"He didn't wanna see you, Big 'Sis, he wanted to take you away."

"Yeah, we didn't like him so we chased him away!"

A man who wanted to take me away? "What did he look like?"

"He had white hair." Peter… she should've guessed.

"What does Peter want this time?" she sighed.

"No! It wasn't the PM, it was someone else."

"Yeah, someone we've never seen before!"

Someone with white hair who wasn't Peter, and someone the twins never met him before, so that ruled out Nightmare (even though he technically has silver hair). Alice frowned to herself as she couldn't think of anyone else with white hair. "How tall was he?"

They thought about for a while, before Dee spoke up, "He was a bit taller than you, Big 'Sis." Well that narrowed it down… not!

"Oh, he also had weird gold eyes!" Gold eyes? Not many people had that type of description.

"Hey, Dee, Dum, can I see that handkerchief again?"

"Sure, 'Sis." Dee handed it to me and I looked over it again. I trailed my finger over one of rose vines, when a fuzzy memory stirred up within me.

"_Alice, make sure you don't go near that boy. He's dangerous." The Head Maid warned her, pointing at a scrawny looking boy who seemed to be delivering something._

"_Dangerous…?"_

"_Yes, dangerous. Now take care dear, your mother, older sister, and I will be going out. Don't get into too much trouble."_

"_Okay! I'll be a good girl." The wizened woman smiled and pinched the young Alice's cheek in a sign of affection, before leaving._

Alice remembered that curiosity got the better of her and she decided to follow the boy anyway. It wasn't the first time she followed the boy either.

_Alice's teal eyes were wide as she watched the boy carry a tea tray away from her father's study. She followed him down the steps and to the kitchen and all the way to the garden._

_The boy suddenly flipped around on his heel and looked straight at her with dark honey eyes._

"_Why are you following me?" The boy puffed out his chest trying to make his scrawny-self seem intimidating, but Alice could see a flash of fear in his eyes._

_Alice gave him a giant smile. "Hi!" The boy stared at her in shock, before taking a step forward._

"_You—" He tripped over his own two feet and fell face first into the ground._

_Alice ran over to his side. "Are you okay?"_

_The boy looked up at her. His face was covered in dirt, but his eyes were filled with surprise. "A-are you smiling at me?"_

_Alice smiled at him again. "Of course, I am." Alice noticed that his cheeks tinged red a bit. "You're not hurt are you?" The boy immediately sat up, and crossed his thin arms over his chest his white-blonde hair leaning to the left side of his face._

"_Of course not! I'm too tough for that."_

_Alice found herself giggling at his tough guy act, in turn deepening the boy's blush. He's so embarrassed, it was cute. "Of course." Alice took out the handkerchief that her mother gave to her just that morning, and started wiping the dirt off of the boy's face._

"_Wh-what are you doing?" The boy squeaked, backing away a bit._

_Alice laughed. "Cleaning your face, silly." She handed him the handkerchief, when she finished. She noticed his face was bright red and he wasn't looking her in the eye. "Here."_

"_Wh-what's this for?" He held the handkerchief in his hands as if he's never seen one before._

"_Consider it a gift from me to you."_

"_A g-gift?"_

"_Uh-huh! My name's Alice, by the way."_

_The boy looked away embarrassingly. "I already know your name you idiot."_

_Alice smiled, his insult having no effect on her. "Is that how a servant treats his master?" The boy panicked._

"_I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it! Please, don't tell anyone."_

"_Don't worry, I won't tell…" The boy relaxed at that. "What's your name?" The boy looked at her with curious eyes._

"_My name is Blake…"_

Blake… wait—_BLAKE!_

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

It was finally the end of my shift. I stretched out my arms, relieving the tension that built up in them. It was a successful day. The customers seemed to like me… a lot.

"That was certainly the most customers I've seen in this café throughout my entire life!" Rosie cackled. "You did great, consider yourself a full-time employee."

"I'm honored," I bowed to her; she began blushing embarrassingly and waved the back of her hand at me.

"Now, stop that." She smiled at me. "I've never met a young man as polite as yourself. Hehe I knew the ladies would love you." I let out a sigh of exhaustion. _Ugh… if I knew there were going to be so many… _girls _fawning all over me, I would never have took the job._ But I knew I wouldn't quit, I liked Rosie and I was lucky to have a laid-back boss such as her. That and she's been having financial trouble with the café, I suppose I am a bit of a miracle to her. To come by and attract all these customers, which was incredibly strange to me. I never had so many people admire my politeness, where I came from it was normal to be polite. I guess the Country of Hearts is in short supply of gentlemen. "Not used to the ladies, huh? I can see it in your eyes. No matter, you'll get used to them soon enough. They'll have a small crush on you, but that's about it. They see you just as some fling." _Is she saying… that I'm a whore of some sort?!_ I felt my face turn green.

"I hope you're right… I wouldn't want them to follow me home or anything." Rosie burst out laughing at that.

"That would be bad news! Here, you go, son." She dropped a heavy change purse into my hand. "Here's your today's pay."

"Wh-wha? Really?!" I looked at her in shock. I opened up the change, and counted a few of the coins. This was a lot of money, almost enough to pay off Julius. "This is quite the bit of money, a-are you sure?"

"So considerate, yes, I'm sure. We made quite the bit of money today; you worked hard for it, so enjoy it!"

"B-but—!"

"Are you refusing it?" A dark look passed over face, making her look like the devil.

"N-no, ma'am," I spoke softly. Why are people with glasses so scary?! She smiled and little butterflies formed around her.

"Good, now take care, dear." And she left me, locking the door behind me.

I was frozen on the steps for a few moments. Her kindness is so deceiving. Tears ran down my face. I pulled out a list of ingredients I needed to buy for dinner tonight. I let out a sigh. _I hope Mr. Monrey is okay._

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

I finished shopping for all the ingredients which took precisely one hour.

I yawned unable to cover my mouth as both my hands were filled with groceries. A wave of exhaustion came over me. I didn't realize how tired I was… _Maybe… I should wait to make the dinner until tomorrow, it's not like Mr. Monrey cares to eat dinner. I'll just go to bed and…_ I shook my head back and forth. _No! Stop being selfish, Blake! You're this man's guest; you should treat your host with respect!_

I straightened my back and looked up at the tower. _Such a large place for someone to live, and yet it's so empty._ I never realized it, before but… was Julius lonely? Sure he had Ace come by every now and then (Ace's presence is so exhausting, I don't know how Julius is able to tolerate him so well), also Alice… he knows Alice, so does she visit him as well? If so, that's only two people (disincluding me) who visit Julius. He doesn't seem so bothered, as they probably 'get in the way', but on the inside… _Don't let yourself get attached, Blake, he doesn't matter. Only Alice does._

I noticed that not as many people were around even though it was still technically Noon. _I suppose they're adjusted to the frequent time changes._

I headed down a tunnel that was lit by a few street lamps. _I hope Alice is okay… wherever she is…_ A shadow stepped in front of me, blocking my exit. Chuckling came from him.

"Never seen your face around here before, are you new?" I turned around to see that I was followed by more men obstructing my only other exit out. _Crap! They trapped me!_

"Something like that," I kept my voice cool, nonthreatening.

"We'll we don't normally have a problem with newcomers." _Normally?_ "But we've decided that you're becoming… a nuisance." The men surrounding gave out shouts of 'yeah'. _These are the guys I saw earlier in the alleyway…_ Sweat beaded at my neck.

"A nuisance? How would that be?" I kept my expression calm.

"You don't know do you?" He strode right up to me, noticeably showing that he was way taller. He leaned his face down towards mine, and glared into my eyes, an attempt to try to intimidate me. "All the ladies are crawling all over you like flies on shit," he pointed in my face, how rude, "and you don't know why you're a nuisance?"

I closed my eyes then opened them looking straight into his face. "I deeply apologize, but I can't help it if young ladies are attracted to me as, excuse my language, flies are to shit."

The young man scowled down at me and he cracked his jaw, which sounded horrifyingly disgusting might I add. He pushed me backwards into the arms of his boys. "Then I guess we'll just have to ruin that pretty face of yours."

_Crap…_

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

Julius glanced out the window and to see that it already shifted to Dusk. Julius felt a troubled frown cross his face. It's been hours and the boy still hasn't returned. Worry turned in his stomach for the naïve boy. Wait, worry? Why should he feel responsible for the boy? It was the boy's decision to go out on his own. But the moment the boy left without even waiting for Julius to take a sip of the coffee, guilt gnawed at his stomach. Usually the boy would wait to see how well he did, but that time it seemed that he didn't care. The coffee was good, but he could tell that it wasn't brewed to its fullest potential.

Maybe he was a little too harsh with the boy. When he found the boy earlier with Ace… he just felt some sort of rage rise up inside of him against the boy. He took his anger out on the boy and it wasn't fair to Blake. Blake didn't smile at him like he once did. Julius dropped his screwdriver. Could the boy of… left him? _Leave him_? Julius groaned, now he was thinking that the boy _belonged _to him? He really needed to get out of these thoughts.

Julius leaned down to pick up the tool. The boy left, just like Alice did when she found out that he was the Undertaker. He put up a front just like Alice smiling acting he wasn't scared, but he really was, so he ran off, when Julius didn't have his eye on him. Julius felt angry at himself for actually believing the boy, _believing_ that someone wasn't actually afraid. He was a _fool_.

He went back to work. His chest twinged in pain, he shouldn't be hurt, this happens all the time, and yet…

The door opened at that moment revealing Blake. His clothes and hair were messed up and he looked as if he was out of breath. He had bags of groceries in each hand.

"Sorry, I'm late. Shopping took a little longer than expected. Next thing I knew it was dark, so I ran all the way back here." He grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, if I made you mad. I'll make you coffee as soon as I can."

Julius was completely frozen. _He came back. He came back with groceries, and he thinks that I'm angry at him because I haven't had any coffee since he left._ Julius covered his eyes with his hand, and a low chuckle from him. Blake stared at him with wide eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Mr. Monrey? A-are you feeling well?" Blake panicked a bit, before looking Julius in the eye with a completely straight face. "You need your caffeine fix, don't you, sir?" Julius burst out laughing at that. Blake gave him an even more wide-eyed look. The boy approached him, and grabbed him carefully by the arm. "I shouldn't have abandoned you like that," Julius let the boy lead him to the kitchen, Julius was acting completely out-of-character, "if I'd known that you'd lose it after so many hours of not having coffee, I would've made enough so you wouldn't run out."

Julius smiled… he actually _smiled_ for the first time since… since… even _he_ couldn't remember. "Blake…" he startled himself, it was the first time he's ever used the boy's name. Blake immediately whipped around with an astonished expression. "Thank you, for coming back—" He _almost _said home, but cut himself off, for all he knew Blake didn't see the Clock Tower as his home. Blake stared at him for a long time. "What?"

"You're… smiling…?"

"…Yes… I suppose I am." Blake turned his face away, when Julius admitted it. Is Blake embarrassed? Julius turned his head so he could see Blake's face better and saw that the boy's cheeks were completely red. Suddenly the boy turned on him and jabbed him in the chest with his finger. Julius flinched back not expecting anger to come from the seemingly harmless looking kid.

"Who in the bloody hell are you?! And what did you do to MR. MONREY!?" The young boy had a surprisingly powerful grip as he gripped onto the front of my black overcoat with gold trim.

"… I am him?" Even Julius questioned if was himself or not, as he certainly wasn't acting like himself at all. "I think I need coffee." Yes, he needed coffee. _Now_.

Blake couldn't agree more.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

I sat at the table set up in the kitchen; I managed to whip up a filling meal for dinner, after having to replace the groceries earlier with the rest of the money I had received. So much for paying Julius back.

I warily eyed Julius who was sitting across the table from me. He seemed to be back to his normal self after he had a large cup of coffee. I didn't know how to react to him being… cheerful. To be honest, I'm surprised the world didn't end right then and there. But when he looked right at me and smiled, I could feel my face heat up again and my heart beat faster as my insides churned. _What is this feeling?! Why did I feel so happy when he looked at me like that?_

Julius was picking at his food with his fork. "Stop picking at it, and eat it already." Jeez, I felt like I was scolding a child. Julius frowned and poked around at his food again.

"What is it?" I almost fell out of my chair. _What? You've got to be kidding me! Is this some kind of joke?_ He looked me dead serious in the eye. _He _is _serious._ I cleared my throat.

"Well… that's chef salad, it has the usual salad stuff, but with ham and chicken strips with a boiled egg." I pointed out the food in front of him as I explained. "That's onion soup au gratin, it contains, well, sweet onions with beef and chicken broth, various cheeses, and a few secret spices which I will not name." I smiled, and pointed to the bread. "If you can't figure out what that is, I'll be upset." He ignored my teasing and took a bite of the salad.

I noticed that his face lit up as he dug into the onion soup au gratin. A warmth spread through me, from my fingers all the way down to my toes. _He likes it._

He looked up at me and glowered at me. "Why aren't you eating?" I realized that I was kind of creepily watching him eat.

"Oh!" I stabbed my fork into my small salad I made for myself and forced myself to swallow. "I'm eating, see."

"Hn."

"I'm just not that… hungry."

"Well, then why do I need to eat this much? I'm getting delayed in my work." I frowned and pointed my fork at him.

"Exactly my point, you never eat, that's why I'm making sure you eat every single bite, until then I won't let you work."

"Hmph, troublesome child." I felt myself grin. I tried taking another bite, only for a sharp sting in my side prevented me. I winced. Julius gave me a questioning look.

"I… think I might've gotten a cramp from that camping thing with Ace," I lied. Julius immediately bought it, and finished up eating. I began taking the dishes, seeing as he ate everything that I cooked for him, I wanted to cry in joy. Julius's eyes wandered over to my still mostly untouched salad, but thankfully didn't say anything. He left.

I was washing the dishes in the sink when the pain in my stomach became completely unbearable. I staggered away from the sink, abandoning the dishes. I walked into Julius's workroom to see Julius passed out on his desk. So having a full stomach knocks him out, huh? I smirked only for it to be wiped off my face, when another wave of pain went through me. I let out a small cry of agony as I stumbled forward holding my side. I made it to the bathroom closing the door behind me.

I panted in pain as I rolled up the bottom of my shirt to reveal blood gushing out of my side.

* * *

**Void: *sighs* As you'll notice in the story, Blake has issues letting people know when she's hurt. This mostly has to do with the way she was treated in the past, and grew the idea that it doesn't really matter if she gets hurt cause she'll just heal. Which often leads her to ignoring the severity of her wound -_- She thinks it's weak if people know she's hurt, physically _or_ emotionally, and she gets incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of herself, when she's found out. As you've might've noticed after she hugged Ace a few chapters ago.**

**I hope you guys like how I portrayed Julius in this chapter, did I make him a little too OCC? Please let me know.**

**Also isn't little Blake so cute?! ^^ Blake had that little tough guy act when she was little.**

**Little Blake: Sh-shuddup! *blushing***

**Void: So cute~ **

**Little Blake: *blushes harder***

**Void: I hope Blake'll be okay though... by the way, I need _at least 5__ revie_**_**ws**_** in order to post the next chapter. Tatty~bye!**


	10. Chapter X: Troublesome Child

**Maybe I should lower down the requirement to 4 or 3 reviews, I was waiting for days to post this (I was so bored out of my freakin' mind!) T_T**

**This is the longest chapter I've wrote so far, I've been having a bit of a challenge with writing lately so I hope that I didn't have too much going on in this chapter ;_;**

_**Thank you**__** to:**_

_**FloraRose23**_**: ****Thank you so much for the review, and thank you for your help, I hope I put your information to good use in this chapter, please let me know how I did. :D**

_**Smileyface18493**_**: Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter! ;)**

_**ShinobiShinigami58**_**:**** Thank you for favoriting this story, if you have any questions or comments you can always review. ^^**

_**Allora22701**_**: Thanks for the review! And yes, Ace was dumb enough to drink it *sighs* he'll do anything for attention. At least he learned his lesson from that (I hope), I gave him the 'cure'. (^_^)**

_**Twilight Dark Angel**_**: Thank you for favoriting and following A Dragon's Heart! I hope I'll see reviews from you in the future. :)**

**Guest: Thank you for the review! And I hope you just loooove this chapter ;)**

_**Meadow Melody: **_** Thank you so much for the reviews ;_; and for finally relinquishing me from my boredom. I will hopefully grant you amusement with this chapter. *cries in happiness***

**Ace: Aww, I didn't know that Void had emotions...**

**Void: *throws a shoe at him but he catches it* Of course I have emotions idiot! And how the hell did you cure yourself from speaking?!**

**Ace: I drank the cure that you gave me. *smiles***

**Void: B-but how is that possible? I gave you the same potion Allora chan gave you! O.o**

**Julius: I think it's due to his unnatural ability to drink so much to the point he becomes sober, except instead with potions.**

**Void: H-how is that even POSSIBLE?!**

**Julius: *sighs* Even I'm still trying to figure it out.**

**Void: A-anyway, I don't own J/C/HnKnA, QR does!**

* * *

_Chapter X: Troublesome Child_

***Julius's POV***

The noon light shone in Julius's eyes, effectively waking him up. His head shot up. _Did I fall asleep?_ His eyes trailed over to the piles and piles of clocks he still hasn't finished. He just _had_ to fall asleep. Now he was going to be working constantly without stop for the next week or so just to finish these clocks.

He suddenly realized that for the first time ever, he woke up with a filled stomach. Julius knew that Blake was a servant and he knew that he could cook, but he didn't know that he could cook _that_ well. Julius groaned just remembering the smell of the onion soup. Maybe he could start getting used to being fed; he could take an hour break from fixing the clocks to be fed, right?

Julius glanced over to the couch expecting to see Blake passed out, but the couch was empty. _Perhaps he's cooking breakfast?_ Julius stretched standing up; he could feel his muscles tense and lock up. He winced; maybe it wasn't a good idea to fall asleep on his metal desk.

He stepped away from his desk only for his feet to slip on something. Julius caught himself and looked down. A trail of blood led from the front door exiting his office to his room. His shoe smeared some of it. Julius paled. _Is Blake hurt?_ Julius ran into his bedroom following the trail of blood to the bathroom door. Julius opened it, the room was trashed. The medicine cabinet was hanging open and its contents littered the floor. The trail led to the bathtub.

Julius rushed over and found Blake curled up in the bathtub. He was completely still.

"Blake?" He touched the boy's cheek only to reel back when he felt how ice cold his skin was. The boy's lips were turning blue, and Julius noticed the pool of red completely covering the bottom of the tub. Julius shrugged off his overcoat and wrapped it around the boy, picking him up and holding him close to his chest. Blake was lighter than Julius expected. _He must've lost too much blood._ The boy no longer smelled gentle, but had the sharp metallic scent of iron. "Blake." Julius carried Blake to his bed and tucked him under the covers not caring that his bed was now being soaked in blood. Julius then sprinted out of the room and dialed the telephone in his work room to the doctor's office.

The phone rang for a long while. _Come on, come on, come on!_ The phone was picked up. _"Hello?"_

"I have someone wounded, there's blood and—"

"_I'm sorry, but the Doctor isn't in right now. If you call back later, maybe we could set up a—"_

Julius punched the wall. "There is no later! HE'S GOING TO DIE, IF THE DOCTOR DOESN'T COME NOW!"

"… _I'm sorry, if our services aren't up to your expectations, but it wouldn't matter if someone died, they'll just be replaced—"_ Julius slammed down the phone effectively ending the call. He never hated the world he lived in so much as he did now. Where was Ace when he needed him? Julius strode back into his bedroom.

"Monrey…?" Julius froze, before rushing over to the bed.

"Blake?!" He turned the boy's cheek gently so he was facing Julius. Julius's clock ticked faster, when he saw Blake's eyes were slitted open. Blake's eyes were no longer gold, but a dull brown.

"Can't… stop the… bleeding," his voice was so weak Julius could barely hear him. That's right he had to stop the bleeding. He dashed into the bathroom and grabbed a roll of bandages of the floor, hurrying back Julius lifted off the blankets. "C-cold…"

"I'm going to check your wound, Blake." He had to keep the boy talking, he couldn't allow the boy fall into an eternal sleep. The boy grunted in acknowledgement. Julius lifted the boy's shirt. Shock ripped through Julius when he saw all the dark bruises that covered the child's stomach along with all the old scars. Julius concentrated on the wound oozing with dark red blood in Blake's side. The blood was thickening which means the wound was trying to close itself up. Julius took care when wrapping the wound. "Are you still with me, Blake?" Julius lightly smacked the boy's cheek. "Come on! Don't fall asleep on me."

The boy frowned. "Stop that… that's annoying."

"I won't stop until you open your eyes."

The boy forced his eyes open. "But I'm so… tired …"

"You're not allowed to sleep. Tell me what happened. How did you get hurt like this?"

"I fell…"

"Yes, falling caused you to get bruises all over your stomach, and a stab wound in your side," Julius spoke sarcastically. Julius saw that the wound was made from a knife one and a half inches in width.

The boy let out a groan. "God, this is so… embarrassing." The boy was dying, and he was worried about being embarrassed? What is wrong with outsiders? Especially this one, even Alice would freak out if this happened to her. She freaked out when she accidently cut her finger with a knife. "I was so… stupid… I'm a disgrace to the Liddell family…" He's worried about _that_?

"You're not a disgrace, Blake." He brushed the boy's hair out of his face. "People get hurt all the time." Well, usually people are killed here in Wonderland, but almost never wounded and _alive_, well, Blake is dying so Julius doesn't think he technically counts. _Don't think like that, Julius! Blake might not die... But the chances of his survival are so low…_

Blake laughed dryly, before groaning in pain. "I know that… it doesn't matter if I get hurt, I'll heal—"

"Don't say that." Blake looked at Julius in surprise. "If you die, I can't fix you. You're irreplaceable." Julius felt pressure building up in his chest. That's right; if Blake dies, he'll never be replaced. Blake stared at him for a few moments and smiled.

"You're reminding me… a lot of Alice right now, so cynical. Who ever said that I was going to die? You should have more faith in me, I promised Lorina… that I would take care of Alice, I can't exactly keep my promise, if I'm dead… now can I?" He looked so confident that he was going to live, Julius pitied the boy. Julius expected the boy to say something like, 'If I die, please protect Alice' not 'There's no way I'm dying, I made a promise and I'm going to keep it'. "Now where's the doctor, because this wound in my side is starting to get really itchy." Julius chuckled, this boy was different that's for sure.

Julius heard the telephone ringing, and he quickly bolted for it. "Hello?" he smashed the phone to his ear.

"_Someone by this phone number called earlier about an emergency?" _A male voice spoke.

"Yes, I have a severely wounded young man in my vicinity. He has a stab wound and multiple bruises."

"_Where are you?"_

"In the Clock Tower, the Clockmaker's workroom." The other line went silent and Julius sucked in a breath. Did he hang up? "Are you still there?"

"… _Y-yes, Julius? I thought I recognized your voice. I'm on my way."_ The doctor hung up.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***The Doctor's POV***

Doctor Adam Phillips was one of the few people who did not hate the Clockmaker. Because of that Doctor Phillips was the only doctor the Clockmaker trusted. Phillips smoothed out his thin black mustache. _ A young man, eh?_ Phillips wasn't aware that Julius received any other visitors besides that knight fellow and the outsider girl. Phillips also knew that Julius wasn't the friendly type, nor usually left the Clock Tower. So how could he have gotten a wounded man in his midst?

The doctor was just about to raise his hand to knock on the door, when it swung open revealing the mortician. Julius had a look of fear in his eyes, a look the doctor never thought he would see. "He's just passed out. Please, hurry." The mortician beckoned the doctor inside and quickly led Phillips to his bedroom chambers.

Under the covers was a rather handsome young man, well more like 'pretty-boy', but handsome nonetheless, if you can ignore the clammy skin and blood.

The doctor placed his bag of essentials on the nightstand next to the bed and checked over the boy. Ice-cold skin, blue lips, shallow breathing, he looked almost dead. He needed to check his clock to see if it was still functioning correctly. Phillips took his stethoscope out of his bag, unbuttoned the top few buttons of the shirt, and pressed the stethoscope against his upper chest.

*B-bump…B-bump…B-bump* the doctor frowned, that couldn't be right. What on earth was that sound? It certainly wasn't the ticking of a clock. Could it be that his clock is damaged?

"Julius, come over here." The doctor waved the clockmaker over and handed him the stethoscope. "Listen to the boy's clock." Julius listened in with the stethoscope, before the edge of his mouth curled up. "Do you know what that sound is?" The doctor certainly was hoping he would know; Julius _is_ a clockmaker after all.

"Yes, I know what that sound is. It's the sound of a heart."

"H-heart?" What did he mean 'heart'? "Are you saying that this boy is…?"

"Yes, he's an outsider." How could that be? Outsiders were rare to come by and yet to have two outsiders in the country at the same time… was that even possible?

"I-I see, hm…" The doctor gestured to the door. "You may leave now." Julius stood there unmoving. Phillips sighed; Julius is one of _those_ people, who are so difficult to get to leave him alone to his work. "Julius, I can't operate on the boy with you looking over my shoulder, if you don't want any mistakes to be made I suggest you leave."

"Don't… try anything."

"Why would I try anything? I'm not into little boys, besides I'm married and I have two kids. If you think I'm going to cheat on my loving wife now, you're wrong." Julius backed off, and left. "Hmph, troublesome man."

The doctor removed the boy's vest and unbuttoned the boy's shirt all the way down. The boy's lower abdomen was wrapped in bandages, but the upper part had a sort of cloth binding over it, which could be used for… The doctor reached forward and began to pull down the front of the bindings only to reveal a small portion of cleavage.

Abruptly the boy's hand shot up grabbing the doctor's hand into a death-grip and his eyes snapped open. The doctor felt himself pale when he looked into the slitted gold eyes of the boy—no, girl—no, _demon_.

"You tell Mr. Monrey about this, and I _will end you_, got it?" The boy's—girl's grip on his hand tightened. _Such amazing strength for someone who lost so much blood,_ the doctor couldn't help but admire.

"I-I won't."

The boy's eyes narrowed but he released his grip. "We'll see about that." A shiver went down the doctor's spine. "It took you long enough to get here, by the way. Now hurry up and close my wound before I lose any more blood and become a vegetable."

"R-right." Actually he wouldn't mind letting this boy/girl, who just threatened him, become a vegetable, but he didn't think that the Clockmaker in the next room would like that very much.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

The mortician paced for what seemed like hours in front of his bedroom door. He couldn't concentrate not on his clocks, not on the time, not on what to do, nothing! Never has he felt so worried about anyone in his life. Julius nervously pressed his knuckles to his lips. There still was no sign that the doctor was making any progress. _Will Blake be okay? Is Blake okay? Will Blake ever be okay?_ These three questions kept swirling around in Julius's head over and over again, until finally the door opened.

The doctor stepped out and quietly closed the door behind him. Julius practically pounced on him.

"How is he?" The doctor looked at Julius with a solemn expression. Julius could feel his gut wrench.

"Sh—_he's_ fine… for now. I just gave him some morphine to ease the pain and help him sleep." Julius didn't like the sound of 'for now'. "He has multiple bruising covering his entire body, and after listening to his breathing I suspect that he has a few cracked ribs. Most of the bruising seems to be centered on his outer forearms which indicate defensive wounds. And he also has many scars covering his entire body telling me that he's been in many fights before. I assume that whoever did this to him wanted to hurt him _badly_ and maybe even wanted to kill him due to the stab wound in his side caused by a serrated knife." Julius flinched. A _serrated knife_?! "Julius, could you please relay the story to me exactly from the time when you found him wounded or maybe even beforehand."

Julius told him everything that happened. How Blake went out to go shopping, but took an awfully long time to do so. How he acted completely normal when he came home. About his cramps at dinnertime and how little he ate, Julius assumed that he had a stomachache… not a stab wound.

"Hrrhmm," the doctor scratched his clean shaven neck, "that boy has some amazing vitality, if he was able to keep standing that long, let alone _cook_ for you. Foreigners sure are interesting. He must really like you." The forty year old man had an odd twinkle in his eye.

"Preposterous," Julius grumbled. The doctor laughed, but quickly sobered.

"I gave him stitches for the wound, let me know when it heals and I'll take them out. Also the boy lost a lot of blood like 2 quarts of blood a lot. To be honest, I'm surprised the boy is still alive, let alone able to talk."

"He woke up?"

"Uh, y-yeah he did," the doctor for some odd reason grew nervous, "only for a little while."

"What did he say?"

"Took you long enough to get here." Julius felt himself smiling on the inside at that. That Blake of his…. Oh no, he's getting back into the possessive perverted mindset again. "Tonight will decide his fate though."

"What?"

"He has a 50/50 chance of living right now, but after seeing his vitality I get the feeling that he'll live." Julius felt himself slightly relax at that, but there was still the chance that he might die. "But… even if he does heal, he may become a cripple." The doctor put hand on Julius's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Julius; I did everything I could for him. Now it's up to fate." Julius felt himself stare past the doctor. "When he wakes up Julius, he'll need lots and lots of water, so be sure to provide that for him, and try feeding him meals that'll help restore his blood, a nice steak will do fine. Do not let him walk on his own, you cannot allow him to put any pressure on his wounds at all. In fact it may be best if you prevented him from moving as much as possible." Julius continued staring past him. "Julius, remember the kid has the most vitality I've ever seen, he may end up perfectly healthy in no time."

Julius finally looked at the doctor. "What do I owe you?"

"For this session? It's on the house, I was late, remember? But there is one thing you could do for me, Julius."

"What would that be?"

"Try not to push this one away." With that said the doctor was gone. Julius stared dumbfounded after the doctor. What was he talking about?

Julius looked towards his bedroom door. The doctor said that Blake was asleep, but that didn't mean he couldn't check on him, right? The mortician silently opened his door and slinked over to the bed like a ghost.

Blake's face was still pale, but he looked much better now that he was asleep. His face was no longer twisted in pain, but was completely calm. Julius found himself gently hugging the sleeping foreigner, and pressing his lips against Blake's forehead. "Troublesome child… you better live," he murmured. Great, he _was_ becoming a perverted, gay pedophile.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

How could she have forgotten about Blake?! Better yet, how did Blake even get into Wonderland?! She highly doubted that Peter kidnapped her as Peter thought men were filthy and only 'loved' her. She couldn't understand how anyone could love her. She wasn't beautiful or special or anything. But if Blake was here, that was going to be a problem.

Alice was lucky she managed to survive in Wonderland so far, but that's only because she was a girl and one should act polite to a girl. But Blake was a boy! And no one would mind killing him. And Blake was probably worried about her (he was always protective over her) and he's probably looking for her right now (if he's still alive!), which would explain, why the twins were complaining about him trying to take her away yesterday. Oh, she could just imagine it.

"_Hello, good sir, might you by any chance know of a young lady by the name of Alice?" _Blake would ask, he always was incredibly formal, well except when he was little, but he's changed a lot over the years.

Then Peter would reply. _"Maybe I do, but now you're through."_ And he would shoot Blake in the head mercilessly and without hesitation.

Alice cried. Blake wouldn't be able to survive in Wonderland. And even if he were to somehow not run into any of the crazy role holders that would gladly kill him, he's too delicate, he's not suited for violence, and he's way too polite, he'll be taken advantage of! Not to mention his socialization skills are low as can be. Huh… now that Alice thought of it, Blake's a bit like Julius. Except less grumpy, and doesn't have an addiction to coffee, and sometimes openly cares about her, and—wait, they're not similar at all! Why did she think that?! The only things they had in common were their lack of social skills, avoidance to touching, and devotion to work.

"How entertaining…" Blood's voice sounded from in front of her. Alice jumped back.

"EEEEHHHH?! When did you get here?!" He arm was in front of her defensively. Blood's presence always made her wary as half the time he was up to something.

"For a while now," he had his neutral sleepy expression, "The amount of emotions your face can show in such a short amount of time is astounding."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic!" Alice yelled at him.

"He's being serious." Elliot popped up out of nowhere beside her.

"What? Really! How can you tell, Elliot?" Elliot gestured towards Bloods neutral face.

"His expression."

"Really?" Alice tilted her head and squint her eyes. "I can't tell…"

"Oh, now he's being sarcastic!" Blood glanced over at Elliot.

Alice narrowed her eyes even further. But Blood's face didn't even change! At least from what she could tell. She shook her head and grabbed Elliot's arm. "Elliot, I need your help." Elliot blinked.

"What do you need, Alice?"

"Where are Dee and Dum? They're not at the gate last I checked."

"Those damn brats, I'm going to cut their vacation time in half the next time I see them," Elliot muttered underneath his breath. "Okay, I think I might know where they might be at." Elliot led her to the twins' room and kicked down the door. "Oi, quit skipping out on your duties!"

"Ahh, it's the stupid chickie rabbit!"

"We don't wanna work, nothin's happenin'! It's so boring!"

"Why you little…" Elliot growled, before jabbing his thumb at Alice, "Alice is here to see you two."

"Big 'Sis?" When they saw Alice, they grinned and glomped her. "Big 'Sis sure is seeing us a lot lately."

"Yeah, she is."

"Does that mean that Big 'Sis loves us?" Dee looked up at her with a dark expression. Um, okay…

"I wanted to know where you last saw 'the man who wanted to take me away' at."

The twin's expressions became disappointed. "We should've killed 'im, when we had the chance," Dum spoke and Dee agreed.

"What?! Don't you two say things like that?!"

"Well, it's true. We don't like how Big 'Sis cares more about this man than us."

"I _do_ care about you guys."

"Then Big 'Sis wouldn't mind if we killed 'im, right?" Alice gasped and she noticed that Elliot wasn't anywhere nearby to settle down the twins.

"Of course, I would mind! Blake is my friend!" Tears ran down her face. "And if you hurt him, I won't forgive you!" Dee and Dum stared at her with wide eyes before guiltily looking down.

"We're sorry, Big 'Sis."

"We don't want you to be sad, so we won't hurt 'im."

Alice couldn't stay mad at them for long. "I forgive you," she wiped away her tears, "but only as long as you promise not to hurt him."

"Okay, Big 'Sis, we promise." Alice smiled at them.

"Good boys."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

I stared up at the ceiling my eye twitching. The doctor drugged me anyway, when I told him specifically _not to_! Luckily it didn't take long for the drugs to wear off (as usual, medicines don't really work that well on me); I could see that it was still daylight outside from since the doctor came. I closed my eyes in embarrassment. I was trying to close up the wound (as my wounds heal way faster if I close them, if not… that's not a pretty process), but it seems that I passed out from blood loss. And then Julius, of all people had to find me passed out.

_He must think I'm so weak now that I can't take care of myself._

I peeked under the covers to see that some of my blood seeped into the sheets. _Ugh… why did Julius have to put me in his bed?! I went into the bathtub for a reason! I didn't want to make a mess, and inconvenience him._ But it seemed a little too late for that. _GAH! Why did I have to be so stupid? Why couldn't I have made dinner AFTER I closed my wound?!_ I bit the inside of my cheek. _Blood loss always makes me stupid, I hate it!_ Wait, my head still felt light and fuzzy. _Does that mean I'm still being stupid? Dammiiiiiiiit!_

I sat up and saw that there was a glass of water on the table next to me. _Did Julius leave this here?_ I reached for it and took a sip from it. It was still cool. A small smile graced my lips as I felt my expression soften. _That means Julius was in here not too long ago._ Julius always acted like he didn't care or didn't want anything to do with people, but… it seems that on the inside he's really kind hearted, well _caring_ person since he has no heart. I downed the rest of the water.

_It's kind of chilly in here. Wait… _I looked down at my body. _Where's my SHIRT?!_ I looked frantically around for my vest and shirt, but they were nowhere to be found. _Dammit!_ I let out a huff examining the new bandages that were wrapped around my forearms and around my abdomen and chest and over both my shoulders. _Well, at least the doctor did a good job disguising my bindings under all the bandages._ I looked almost completely flat-chested, unless one were to observe closely, but I don't think anyone would do that… well, maybe Ace would, but he's probably the only one.

My bare feet touched the cold wood floor sending a chill through my body. _Julius must've taken off my shoes and socks while I was knocked out._ My face turned red at the thought of someone else taking care of me for the first time. _ I never really had anyone actually care for me like this before…_ Pain from my wound shot up as I took a step forward. _Ah, stop hurting and just heal already!_ My wound was already closed but it will take a few more hours until my insides fully recover, but restoring my blood back to normal levels may take a while.

Dizziness broke out in my head, and the world tipped. _Woah, why is everything sideways?_ I felt someone catch me just in time, before my head smacked against the ground.

"What're you doing?!" Julius's voice sounded angry. He lifted me back up and pressed me against him, so I wouldn't fall.

"I…" I was suddenly aware that I was pressed against a mature man… without a shirt on. My face flushed. "G-get away!" I pushed away from him, only for me to fall backwards. Julius caught me again, but this time he picked me up bridal style. I felt myself blush seven-fold. "P-put me down!"

"You shouldn't be out of bed." He looked down at me with a scowl. I shoved back his face.

"Don't look at me!" My shove caused him to stumble back, before falling. "Oof!" I opened my eyes to see that I had both my arms on either side of Julius's head and my nose was barely brushing against his. His deep blue eyes were lidded and were watching me. My whole body was completely frozen. _Why can't I move?_ I felt his hand cup my right cheek as he slowly pulled me down towards him. "Julius, wh-what're you…?" His other hand brushed against my wound causing pain to shoot through me along with a reality check. I jerked back. _Wait, I just called him Julius!_ I was highly aware that I was now straddling his hips. Julius's eyes were completely wide as his mind finally processed our situation. I immediately scrambled off him, and for a moment it was completely silent between us. _Gahhhh, this is so embarrassing!_ My face was a deep red.

Julius suddenly picked me up by my armpits and sat me on the bed.

"I-I'm sorry—ommfffphhh!" He took a bowl out of nowhere and shoved a spoon in my mouth.

"Eat." I gagged. _What the bloody hell did he just shove into my mouth?!_ It was bland completely bland! I forced myself to swallow and it stuck to my throat causing me to cough.

"What did you just feed me?" I felt my eyes watering up, wait there was some flavor. Was that _salt_?

"Oatmeal." _Oatmeal… OATMEAL?! He can't even cook OATMEAL correctly?_

"Who in the bloody hell puts _salt_ in _oatmeal_?" He frowned.

"Salt? I thought I put sugar in it."

"Didn't you taste test it first?"

"No." I face-palmed.

"You must always do a taste test, if you're planning on feeding someone else. If you made a mistake, you can always go back and fix it."

"Well, I already made a whole batch, and I'm expecting you to eat every last bite." _Never mind, I don't like the prospect of someone else taking care of me. I'd rather take my chances fending myself off from a bear with only a pistol with one shot in it and a broken leg._

"Are you _trying_ to kill me?" I looked at him with an 'are-you-serious?' look. "If this amount of sodium gets into the little blood I already have, I'll have a heart attack and die. Do you want that?"

"A heart attack?"

"It's when the cells in our heart muscle begin to die from lack of oxygen provided through our blood… you know what, never mind." Julius carelessly tossed the bowl onto the nightstand, and was about to leave, when I grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry. You find me dying in a bathtub, and you're doing everything that you can to take care of me… and I'm being… ungrateful. Look, I'll eat the oatmeal," I reached for the oatmeal, but Julius stopped me.

"No!" He noticed my surprised expression from his outburst, and he said more gently, "No, I don't want you to get a… heart attack."

"Oh…" I bit the inside of my cheek. "You probably see me as a complete child right now, and you're probably right," my grip on my knees tightened, "I let myself get trapped, I should've paid more attention, if I were a proper servant I would be out there right now, searching for the young mistress, but… I'm not out there, I'm in here being treated by a man who probably would rather have nothing to do with me. I'm a burden. My only use is to serve, nothing more. And if I don't have a master to serve," I squeezed my eyes shut, "what does that make me?!"

"A free man."

"A free man?" I laughed dryly. "That can't be right… I'll never be free, nor do I desire to be free. My only desire is to serve by Miss Alice's side for the rest of my life." I felt the bed sink where Julius sat next to me.

"Tell me what happened. Who attacked you?" His eyes looked at me in concern. I didn't know what to think. He cares about me? How could that be, I wonder. I straightened my back and smoothed out the wrinkles in my trousers.

"I just finished shopping and I was on my way back ho—to the Clock Tower," I saw Julius twitch at that out of the corner of my eye, "So I decided to take a shortcut through a tunnel. Next thing I knew I was trapped, both exits were blocked by _them_."

"Who's _them_?"

"I don't know… a gang of guys, I guess they were angry at me for stealing away their 'girls' or something like that."

"What?"

"Like I said, I don't really know. They didn't like how I attracted the 'ladies' like 'flies on shit', excuse my language." I laughed. "So I did the dumbest thing ever, I told them I couldn't help it if I attracted the ladies 'like 'flies on shit', excuse my language. He didn't take that too well. Next thing I knew they were trying to ruin my 'pretty' face. I really need to work on my socialization skills and practice having real conversations, *ahem* anyway, I tried to defend myself as best as possible, I depend on mobility, but seeing as I was in a tightly closed space and surrounded my luck was crap, excuse my bad language. Next thing I know one of them pulled out a knife on me; I didn't see that one coming in time to stop it. They left me, assuming that I probably will learn my place, or just die." I noticed Julius's eyes were slits.

"I'll send Ace after them." No one deserves that fate!

"Woah, there's no need to go that far!"

"Blake, they tried to kill you!" I waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah, and they might try again, next time I'll be ready."

"Blake—!"

"Mr. Monrey, how old do you think I am?"

"What do you mean…?" he sounded almost suspicious.

"It's just how it sounds; how old do I seem to you?"

"… Fourteen maybe…" I gave him an incredulous look. "Fifteen," he bumped it up year, probably to make me feel better. I sighed.

"I'm a year older than Alice, I'm almost nineteen years old." Julius's eyes were wide when I said that. "I'm a young adult; I can take care of myself. I can defend myself, when I'm prepared. I don't need others babysitting me like I'm some toddler."

Julius went silent for a moment. "If you don't want to be treated like a troublesome child, then stop acting like one. The first thing you should've done was tell me that you were hurt, not hide it from me."

"Well, where I came from if I was hurt I would usually get yelled at for being so careless and would be put to work, so I tend to hide it from people when I get hurt. If no one is going to be there to kiss your 'boo-boo', then there's no point in screaming for mama, now is there? I've learned to depend solely on myself."

"You don't have to be alone anymore…" My eyes snapped to his when he said that.

"You know…" I smiled, "it's kind of ironic that you said that because you don't have to be alone either." A tinge of red covered his cheeks when I said that. Is he blushing? I cleared my throat. "Would you please make me some eggs and toast with butter." That should be a very simple meal to cook. If he messes up on that I'll want to cry. "Don't burn the eggs or undercook them, I want the middle to be nice and yolky."

He pushed me down into the bed and I felt myself blushing. _What is he doing?_ Then I noticed that he was tucking me in. "Don't move until I come back." Then he left.

I took the bed covers off of me and stood up. _I need to take a hot bath and get my head screwed on straight._

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

"Where did you last see Blake?" Alice asked the twins.

"Over there." Dee pointed into the woods. Alice deadpanned.

"I see." She glanced to the twins. "I'm going to be leaving the mansion, now, to look for Blake I had a really great time with you guys." The twins looked sad for a moment and looked at each other, before a devious smile crossed their lips.

"We've a better idea!"

"Yeah! Why don't we go with you Big 'Sis, and help you look for 'im?" Alice considered it, Elliot might get angry at them for abandoning their duties, but he probably wouldn't mind if they were helping her. But the twins might distract her also from finding Blake… "Pleeaaase?" They both looked up at her with the most adorable of faces.

"Alright, but no fooling around, okay?"

"Okay!"

As they were heading towards the Hatter town, she could hear the twins giggling to each other.

"This is waaay better than guard duty!"

"Yeah, and that stupid chickie rabbit, won't yell at us 'cause we're helpin' Big 'Sis!"

Alice had a feeling that they had ulterior motives behind helping her. She sighed. Those two better not mess around. She looked ahead at the approaching town. She was going to have to start asking around to see if anyone has seen Blake. It shouldn't be too hard, Blake kind of stands out with his very polite manner.

The bushes rustled not too far away from where she was at and Ace emerged from them.

"Oh hey, Alice!" Ace grinned when he saw her.

"Ace!" She was surprised to see him… then again she was always surprised to see him as he was always popping out of nowhere.

"It's _him_." The twins weren't too happy to see Ace. When Ace got too close Alice, they pointed their axes at Ace. "Stay away from Big 'Sis!"

"We don't want ya sexually harassin' her again."

"Yuup!"

Ace smiled. "Actually I'm not here for Alice." He isn't? Maybe he's on an errand for Julius, but he wasn't wearing his cloak… he was probably lost again. He took out his sword and took a swipe at the twins, they both dodged. Alice immediately retreated to a safe place behind a tree; she learned a long time ago not to get stuck in the middle of these fights.

"Cheater!"

"Yeah, if you wanted to play why didn't ya jus' say so?" One sword along with two axes clashed against each other.

"I'm not here to 'play' with you guys." Ace continued smiling. "You took something precious from my Angel, but I'm going to kill the two of you first, then take it back." Angel? Was Ace talking about her? But that can't be right, Ace never called her 'Angel' before.

"Stupid, knighty-knight!" Dee and Dum charged at Ace swinging their axes at him.

With one sweep of his sword, Ace disarmed the both of them. Dee and Dum's axes buried themselves into the ground out of their reach. Ace pointed his sword at the twins, and smiled.

"Time for you two to die~."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

Julius wanted to hit himself. How could he have been so stupid?! He almost kissed the boy! But most of all he wanted to hurt the men who hurt Blake. Never has ever thought about hurting anyone before (except for Ace, but everyone thinks about hurting Ace at some point). He noticed that he was burning the eggs and he frustratingly threw them away and started a new batch. He put his knuckles to his mouth as he frowned.

The boy was a man, he felt himself turn red. So he really wasn't a pedophile the boy was less than a decade younger than himself… but that still made him a gay pervert! How could he think of such things?! Was he truly attracted to men? But he thought that he loved Alice… why is it that this boy was making him feel… so much emotion? He didn't understand it at all. He didn't understand _foreigners_ at all.

And he could've sworn he heard Blake almost call the Clock Tower his home. A smile crossed his face.

Finally he finished making the eggs and put them on a plate.

"_You must always do a taste test, if you're planning on feeding someone else. If you made a mistake, you can always go back and fix it."_ Blake's words rang in his head. Julius sighed.

He cut into one of the eggs and saw some yolk seep out of it. _How could he eat this? It's disgusting._ He shoved it into his mouth. It was okay, but he preferred his eggs completely cooked, not gooey in the center. He forced himself to swallow. He also put the amazingly unburnt toast onto the plate as well. The kid better not complain about the food again because he wasn't cooking anymore. He grabbed a mug of coffee in his other hand (the only beverage he knew how to brew well).

He headed towards his office and bedroom door. He glanced at his desk which was piled up with clocks and clock parts. He was far behind in his work. The kid better heal quickly so he can concentrate on his work.

He opened the door to see… that the bed was empty. The mortician felt an angry tick mark form on his head when he placed the food down onto the nightstand. Where did that boy go?

A noise came from the bathroom. Panic went through Julius. _Did the boy hurt himself?_

Julius went over to the door and barged in. "Blake!" He expected to see the boy in the tub with a pool of blood underneath him again. What he saw in front of him at that moment, was not what he expected at all.

Blake's white-blonde hair was dripping wet with water and his widening honey eyes met with Julius's just as wide eyes. Julius felt his gaze wandering lower; then silently closed the door. He felt himself sliding down to the floor as he pressed his back to the door with a deep blush covering his cheeks.

_Blake was actually a GIRL?!_

Julius found himself muttering, "Troublesome child…"

* * *

**So what did you guys think? Was it too soon to reveal Blake's gender? Too much Julius x Blake? Am I moving too quickly with the romance? Did I get Julius's personality spot on? What do you think Julius is going to do now that he knows? Please review and let me know. Also, please review and tell me any suggestions you have for future chapters. For this chapter I require _at least 4 reviews_ until I post the next chapter. Please don't make me wait to post these chapters *puppy dog eyes* I was so incredibly bored...**

**Boris: Yes, she _was_ incredibly bored, she sounded like she was _dying_.**

**Void: *scowls* I wasn't that bad.**

**Boris: Pffffft! Bwahaha, yeah, you totally were! You even went to your brother in desperation asking what you did wrong. And he doesn't even care about the story hehehahaha!**

**Void: *face darkens* Boris...**

**Boris: Hm? What is it?**

**Void: *dangling a live fish right in front of his face* Look at what I found!**

**Boris: *eyes shine in happiness* Fish...**

**Void: *smirks and drops it into a nearby river***

**Boris: *runs to the edge* NOOOOOO! HOW COULD YOU?!**

**Void: Don't keep me waiting, review! REVIEW! MUAHAHAHA! AND BORIS WILL HAVE ALL THE FISH HE DESIRES! If not... I won't be happy... and Boris won't get any fish.**

**Boris: You BETTER REVIEW! I. WANT. FISH!**


	11. Chapter XI: Obsession

**Sorry, about the delay. We've been having really crazy thunderstorms lately! O_o**

**Here's the chapter y'all been waiting for!**

_**Special Thanks To:**_

_**Meadow Melody**_**:**** Thank you for the review. Here's the chapter you've been waiting for! ;)**

_**Allora22701**_**: Thanks for the review! And I'm sure Boris appreciates the fish you gave him very much. ^^**

_**FloraRose23**_**:****I think I got Julius's personality accurate, except for a certain part where I make him a bit OCC lol. Thanks for the review! XD**

**_Lurking Pheonix_: Guess what. Julius just turned into another type of pervert in this chapter. XD lol Thanks for the review.  
**

_**Smileyface18493**_**:****Hope you enjoy Julius's reaction. XD Thank you for the review!**

_**Guest [1]**_**: ****Here's the next chapter! Thank you for reviewing! :)**

_**Guest [2]**_**:**** Thank you for the review! ;)**

**Thanks for all the fishies guys! :D Boris practically swimming in them.**

**Boris: Ahhh, I'm in heaven~! *purring on top of a mountain of fish***

**Pierce: He's not even chasing me now the he's full! Chu~!**

**Void: *blinks* Pierce? How'd you get here?**

**Pierce: Huh?**

**Void: You're not supposed to be in the Country of Hearts. And you haven't even popped up in my story yet.**

**Pierce: Oh... *tearing up* I'm so sorry...**

**Void: No, no, it's okay *trying to comfort him***

**Ace: *comes out of nowhere and takes a swipe at Pierce***

**Pierce: *barely dodges, tears flowing out of his eyes* SQUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK! *runs to the high hills***

**Ace: Darn, the squeaker got away again.**

**Void: ACE, YOU JERK! *karate chops his head* Quit being mean to Pierce!**

**Ace: Owww, why? He's vermin, and he's always interfering with my job with Julius.**

**Void: I don't care. As long as I'm here, you're not killing anybody.**

**Ace: *smiles* Okay, as loooong as you're here~.**

**Void: *glares at him* I don't own J/C/HnKnA, QR does. If I did, I would've made Ace get punched in the face by an unknown object every time he attempts to kill Pierce.**

* * *

_Chapter XI: Obsession_

***Julius's POV***

Her supple curves, her flat stomach, her pale skin that looked so soft to touch… Julius's imagination completely took over as everything around him became hazy. The water dripping down in between her perfect—_WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!_ Feeling something dribble down his chin, he touched his hand to it and pulled it back, blood. He was having a nosebleed?! He _was_ a pervert! The mortician vacated the room. What was he thinking?! Barging into the bathroom like that!

He sat at his desk folding both of his hands together. He… he _had_ to work, he _had_ to get his mind off of her thick, long white eyelashes framing around her beautiful golden eyes—no, NO! He has to stop thinking about that. He needed to concentrate on his work. He tried aiming the point of his screwdriver at a small gear in the clock, but his hand was shaking so bad he kept missing. Why can't he concentrate on such a simple task?!

He smacked his head against the metal table and groaned while a throbbing pain spread throughout his skull. He never was this obsessed before… not even with Alice. Why couldn't Alice be on his mind right now? He loves Alice, right? Not this newbie foreigner that constantly needed his help to survive in Wonderland, not even Alice was that needy she found others to help her… He just couldn't understand why Blake would want _his_ help out of everyone else? He was grumpy, anti-social, a poor conversationalist; he could check off a whole list of negative aspects about himself. And yet… Blake… wait, Alice also doesn't mind being around him… so why should Blake be so much more special? Alice cooked and made coffee for him, she made sure he went to sleep and didn't overwork himself… but then so did Blake, plus Blake's cooking and brewing skills are way better.

Why was he comparing them so much? Does that mean he likes Blake? Julius stared blankly ahead. Better yet, when was the last time he was with a woman, definitely way before even _Alice_ came. That's probably it; he's deprived of a woman's touch.

The door from his bedroom creaked open.

"Hn?" Julius glanced over only for his eyes to bulge out of his head. Sh-she was wearing his clothes! _Calm down, Julius._ Anxiety rose in him as he tried to ignore her and act like he was working on the clock in front of him.

"I hope you don't mind if I borrow your clothes for a bit, I need to wash the blood stains out of my clothes." Her voice small, timid even.

"I don't mind." He managed to say. Of course he minded! Every time he looked at Blake now, he didn't see a boy, he saw a girl. He couldn't act the same anymore. Could he?

"Thanks." Suddenly there was a huge awkward silence that filled the room. He felt it and he was sure that Blake could feel it to. The ticking of the clocks around acted as a catalyst of the rising discomfort. Every tick reminded them of each second they spent in silence. "So now you know one of my secrets," Blake finally broke the silence. _One_ of her secrets? She has _more_? How many secrets could one girl have? Julius let his silence answer her question; he heard her breath in shakily. He realized that she was standing in front of his desk. "I trust you won't tell anyone. A-am I correct to trust you?" How could he answer that question? He wasn't sure if he wanted her to trust him. He didn't trust himself. "Not even Miss Alice knows." That got his attention.

"Alice doesn't know?" Blake shook her head 'no'. That was a shock; he thought Blake shared everything with her precious mistress, but apparently not. A soft fluttery feeling rose in his chest. Wait… was he happy to know something about Blake that no one else knew?

"Miss Alice must never know. If she knew the truth about me, she would despise me."

"Why would she despise you if she found out you were a girl?"

"No, that has nothing to do with it. It doesn't matter whether or not she knew my gender, but the reason behind my secrecy."

"And what is your reason?" Blake turned away.

"I'll just say this, I've brought great shame upon the Liddell family a long time ago, and it was decided that I would serve them for the rest of my life." Brought great shame upon the Liddell family? Julius couldn't see it… actually he could see Blake crying over a scratch she got, saying that she's a disgrace to the Liddell family. He sweatdropped.

"That's not the entire story is it?"

"No…" Julius didn't push anymore as he could tell that she closed her shell. What? Now he's thinking of her as an oyster? As if he caught her with her shell open and she's giving her polite regards before she closes it. She sure is one well-mannered oyster then.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

Alice watched in horror as Ace swung his sword towards the twins, if he hit them, they would be seriously wounded. A gunshot rang out and Ace jumped back just in time as a bullet hit the ground where he was just standing. Alice could see Boris balanced on a tree branch pointing his pistol at Ace. His expression wasn't of its usual playfulness.

"Oh, it's kitty kat! Have you decided to join?" Ace smiled turning his attention to the Cheshire Cat.

"Don't kill in front of Alice." Alice felt her eyes widen slightly when Boris said that. Boris really cared about her that much?

"Oh~? Is that right?" The twins took the chance to retrieve their axes.

"We're gonna beat ya up, knight!"

"Yuup!"

Ace was surrounded, the twins at one side and Boris in the trees on the other. Ace relaxed his stance and sheathed his sword, Alice felt herself relax.

"Good job guys, you're doing great with your training~!" Ace gave the twins a 'thumbs up'. Angry tick marks appeared on the bloody twins' heads. _That_ was training? Did Alice hear wrong when he said that he was going to kill the twins?

"Stop disrespectin' us!"

"We're gonna cut off your stupid head!"

The twins and Ace went at it again and the knight easily deflecting their attacks.

"H-hey, I said no killing in front of Alice!" Boris joined into the skirmish. Alice's face went dark. _Idiots. They are all IDIOTS!_

"STOP FIGHTING, ALREADY!" All their attention was suddenly concentrated on her. "Uhh…"

Boris put his hands to his cheeks. "Oooh~ do that again~!"

The twins joined. "We loooove it when you yell at us, Big 'Sis~!" Ace tilted his head to the side in confusion. _DOES NOTHING FAZE THESE IDIOTS?!_

Alice grabbed the twins by their hands and started dragging them away. "Come on! We're wasting time."

"Awww! That's not fair."

"Where are you going, Alice?" Boris asked in curiosity. Alice sighed.

"I don't really know. I'm trying to find someone, but I don't know where he's at. I just hope I make it in time before he's killed." Tears streamed down her face. But at this rate, by the time Alice arrived Blake will probably be long dead.

"Are you looking for anyone by the name of Blake by any chance?" Alice grabbed the front of his shirt.

"You know Blake. Is _he_ aLiVe?" The Cheshire cat gave her a look of fear, she heard him mutter under his breath 'terrifying'.

"Y-yes, he's very much alive last I saw, but I don't know where he is now. Please stop making that face, it's scaring me." Alice had her teeth bared in her frightening monster-chibi form.

"I know where Blake is~!" Ace chirped up, grinning wildly.

"R-really?!" Alice was surprised. How many others knew Blake? And how long has Blake _been_ in Wonderland?

"I can take you to him~."

"… On that note, I'll be better off finding him on my own." Alice started walking to town with the twins again.

"You won't find him~ I'll find him before you and do _very_ fun things with him~!" Ace said that with smile on his face. Oh God, what did he do to Blake so far?! She had to get him to tell her, so he couldn't defile Blake's innocence! Blake was one of the most innocent people she knew, and whenever she cracked up a sex joke, Blake would just stare at her in confusion. Please, don't tell me Ace defiled him!

"Okay fine, you can come with us, but only if you tell me where Blake is."

"He's at the Clock Tower. Here, I'll take you~!" Ace grabbed her hand and started dragging her in the completely opposite direction of the tower.

"That's the completely wrong direction!" Alice tried twisting her hand out of his strong grip.

"No, it's not. It's a shortcut~." Dee and Dum yanked Alice away from Ace.

"Get your hands off of Big 'Sis!"

"Yeah, we don't want you touching her, you big Lech!"

Next thing Alice knew, she was stuck in the middle of a 'tug-o-war' and she was the rope.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

I was an idiot. A great, big, humongous moron! How could I of forgotten to lock the bathroom door?! _Ugh, I'M SO STUPID!_ My cheeks were flushed. He was the first man to see my… body. I pressed my left hand to my temple, biting my inner cheek. _I'm such an embarrassment!_

_As long as he doesn't know why, I'll be fine. No one can ever know, not even Alice. If she did…_ I adjusted my position in the wood chair to more comfortable one. _Just keep calm, Blake, he doesn't know, he will never know… and—ugh! Why did he have to walk in?! He probably thinks I'm ugly with all my scars… wait, why should I care whether or not he thinks that I'm pretty?! That doesn't matter! It doesn't matter. I'm a servant, I am not allowed to love or be loved. I am not worthy of such a luxury. My only purpose is to serve the Liddell family and the young mistress. That's all I'm good for._

I breathed deeply, giving myself calming breaths. I let the steam from the hot cup of coffee warm my face as I fingered its porcelain handle. My shoulders were tense as I stared at the map Julius laid out before us on the table; it showed all of the Country of Hearts. I recognized an ink-sketched version of the Clock Tower almost immediately in the center of the map.

"It was foolish of me not to inform you of this sooner, if I had, perhaps you wouldn't have gotten hurt." His face remained stoic. "As you know, I am the owner of this Clock Tower. There are three more territories you must know about." He began gesturing to each of the territories. "The Queen of Hearts rules Heart Castle, I warn you to be wary around her; she has a nasty tendency of ordering the beheading of anyone she's bothered by, or even bored with." I felt myself sweating nervously. I wouldn't want to run into her anytime soon, she sounds terrifying. "Gowland presides over the Amusement Park." And I never want to hear his music again. "The Hatters Residence is attended by a crime syndicate family known as the 'Hatters'."

"So they're like a mafia?"

"Precisely. Their current boss is Blood Dupre." Blood? Isn't that the guy I saw at the gunfight at the Amusement Park? The guy who looks like Alice's tutor? I frowned.

"Dupre? He's a mafia boss?"

"You know him?"

"Not exactly, but I've crossed paths with him at the Amusement Park, when I was listening to Gowland play that _horrific_ music. They had a falling out when Dupre provoked Mr. Gowland. Next thing I knew I was stuck in the middle of a gunfight and Boris helped me out, that's when I met up with Ace and you." I leaned back in my chair. "If he's a mafia boss that makes him a very dangerous man, I knew there was something about him I didn't like, other than the fact that he has the face of Alice's tutor, _and that he held me at gunpoint_," I muttered the last part low enough so Julius couldn't hear it.

"Alice's tutor?"

"Yeah… I didn't really talk much to her tutor though, so…" _Could Alice's tutor have been her boyfriend?_ I shook my head. _No way. Alice wouldn't have fallen for him. I've only spoken to him once and I could already tell that he was a good for nothing. That and he was her tutor, that would've just been… wrong._

"Hmph, onto more important matters," he acted as if he was uninterested in the little bit of information I gave him, but I could tell he was, "These three territories are currently at war with each other. The Clock Tower is the only neutral area."

"And you didn't think it was important to tell me that this country was in full out war, _why_?" Annoyance dripped from my lips. My eye twitched. I could've died because of this important information being with-held from my knowledge!

"Yes, and I am… sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Wow, that sounded like it took a lot out of him to say 'sorry'.

"I guess that explains why those twins practically tried to cut off my head when I approached their compound." I sighed, crossing my arms. "Is the young mistress really okay out there by herself? If the country is at war, wouldn't it be dangerous for her to travel around?"

"Yes, it would, but the citizens quite adore Alice." He had an almost bitter tone to that.

"Because everyone loves an outsider, huh."

"Yes."

I finally took a sip of the coffee. _Woah… I'm not one for coffee, but… this tastes phenomenal!_ I took a bite of the eggs and toast; they were okay, much better than the oatmeal. I smiled. "You did quite the splendid job of brewing coffee, Lord Monrey, your cooking skills need some work."

"_Lord_ Monrey?" Julius cocked an eyebrow.

"I deeply apologize, I've been addressing you informally as 'mister', and you deserve more respect than that especially since you preside over the Clock Tower. So from now on I will address you as Lord Monrey." I could see him fidget slightly. "Does the title bother you, my lord?"

"Don't call me that." His voice was stiff. I tilted my head.

"Than what would you rather me call you, sir?"

"Julius."

"That is quite… informal…. As you wish then… Juliiiuuus." I stretched out his name, testing it on my tongue. Very few people allow me to call them by their first names, I tended to enjoy those moments a little too much. His face flushed red. "Is there something bothering you, Julius?"

"D-don't call me that."

"But, Julius, you just told me to—"

"And I've just changed my mind; go back to calling me 'Mr. Monrey'." I felt laughter bubble up from inside of me.

"You sure are an unusual man, Mr. Monrey." I covered my mouth while I giggled like a complete girl. I noticed Julius's embarrassment level rise, so I tried restraining my laughter. "I'm glad you were the first person I was taken to in Wonderland."

"You _are_?" He sounded completely baffled.

"Why, of course… Mr. Monrey, did you know that you can tell a lot by a person through the way they cook?" He stared at me; I'll take that as a 'no'. I smiled. "The eggs and toast were quite plain," I noticed his expression had fallen a bit, even though he tried to hide it, "but it has a gentle flavor to them, which tells me you took your time and care in preparing them. The deep taste in the coffee tells me you're quite confident when it comes to your work, having to stay up through all hours of the day and night in order to complete it. You're a very devoted person, Mr. Monrey, and as much as you try to hide it you also have a gentle side to you, past your grumpy façade you always try to put up." He sat there frozen to the spot. I reached over the table and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's why I trust you, Mr. Monrey. You would never try taking advantage of me." He grabbed my wrist suddenly and stood up. "Mr. Monrey?"

"Do you truly trust me?" He pulled me towards him. "Are you not afraid of the fact that I am a man?" He leaned down towards my ear. "That I am capable of _many_ things." _What the bloody hell was he going on about?_

"Yes, I do trust you, and I am aware that you are capable of many things just as I am. We're humans, we're _meant_ to be able to do many things." He stared at me in confusion.

"I meant things that a man and a woman together are capable of." I frowned and put a thumb to my lips as I thought hard about this.

"Things that a man and a woman are capable of…" I repeated.

"Yes." I thought of things that Alice's mother and her father would do together; we did together, before her mother unfortunately passed away. _They did spend a lot of time together reading, and laughing. Oh, I know!_

"Dancing together." I beamed up at him, proud of my answer. He put a hand to his face and started shaking in what I guessed was laughter. "Why are you laughing? Did I get it wrong? But I thought that's what a man and woman do together besides laughing and teasing and walking and-and—!" I was getting flustered even more as his laughter increased. "Stop laughing at _meee_!" I whined trying to wriggle away from him.

"Yes, that's what a man and a woman do together." He agreed with me, ruffling my hair. I noticed that he was comfortable with touching me.

"Then why were you laughing?" I pouted.

"Nothing you need to know." His cool lips pressed themselves gently against my forehead, I felt my eyes slowly widen. His eyes the color of the blue night sky softened, as he pulled away, and smiled down at me. My insides tingled strangely it felt like there were… butterflies or something fluttering around in my stomach. I shyly looked to the floor and blushed. _Julius looks really young when he smiles. I like it… when he smiles._ As soon as I took my eyes off his, something inside him seemed to have snapped, as he pushed away from me and headed towards his desk, a scowl plastered back upon his face. Disappointment rose inside me. _Why should I be disappointed?_

"Mr. Monrey, I…"

"Don't bother me any further, I'm busy." He snapped at me, and his expression was cold as he glared at me. I felt myself flinch back. _Why is he acting so cold now, when he was just so warm?_ Confusion rose in me. _Did I do something wrong? I don't understand._

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

My clothing was completely blood stain free (thanks to the salt I bought the previous day), and not a wrinkle could be found. I put my gloves back on, completing my dressing process. _Now the last challenge is sneaking around Julius._ I silently opened his bedroom door and peeked through the crack to observe Julius. He was at his desk… fixing clocks, big surprise. _If I'm quiet and slow with my movements he shouldn't notice me…_

I began tiptoeing past him, trying to stay out of his range of sight. _It seems that he's fully concentrating on his work. Yes! That means I'll be able to sneak out of here with no problem!_ I placed my hand on the doorknob and turned.

"Where do you think you're going?" I froze. _Crap._ I slowly turned around.

"O-oh, h-hey there, Mr. Monrey, how are you doing?" I forced myself to smile as a sweatdrop formed at my head. _Who am I kidding? He won't fall for that!_ He stood up, and strode towards me with an annoyed glint his eye. _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap._ He stood in front of me, his cold gaze piercing right into me. I squeezed my eyes shut. An audible 'click' sounded by me and I opened my eyes. I watched as he retracted his hand with a key held in between his fingers. _Wait, did he just—?!_

I put my hand on the doorknob to turn it, but it would budge. _Nooooo! He locked it!_ I looked up at him frantically.

"You have to let me go!"

"No, you're injured. You should not be out of bed."

"B-but I have to go to work! I'll be late if I don't get there soon! I just got it yesterday; it will look really bad on my part if I don't show up."

"Then maybe you should've been more careful in not getting injured." Anger bubbled up inside of me.

"It's not like I asked for those guys to hurt me, they just did! Maybe, it would've been a little bit more helpful if _someone_ informed me sooner of a WAR GOING ON!" He flinched back at that, but his face soon darkened.

"Go to the room, _now_." Alarm rose in me as I realized my mistake.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Monrey, I'm being selfish again." My voice softened. "But my injury is already healed; you don't need to worry over me anymore. You have your responsibilities and I have mine. And it seems that none of our responsibilities are getting done as long as I'm here. It was wrong of me to take advantage of your kindness to let me stay here, but I was in the wrong. I won't bother you anymore." My bottom lip began trembling and I quickly pressed my fist to it and turned my head to the side so Julius wouldn't see it. _Am I about to cry? No way. This is stupid. Why would I cry over something as dumb as this?! Why should I even be upset? Julius means nothing to me!_ "Just allow me to leave and I'll be on my way."

"…Show me your wound."

"What?" My eyes snapped to his.

"Show me your wound," he repeated. "If it's fully healed I'll let you go, if not… you stay." I sighed.

"Fine." I unbuttoned my vest, and rolled up my shirt just enough to show the stitches, the scar was a fresh pink. Julius bent down onto his knees to get a better view of my already healed wound.

"How…?" He touched his finger to the scar and traced over it, a shock went through me and I jumped back, bumping into the door. I blushed and looked to the side. _W-why did he have to touch me?_

"I've always had this weird healing ability for as long as I can remember. Unlike everyone else around me where it would only take a day or two to heal a scratch, it only took minutes to heal with me. Very few people know about it. They… are scared of me, they see me as some sort of…" my throat got clogged up "…abomination… Devil's child." A hiccup came from my throat, and I tried to hold back the torrent of tears by pressing my hands over my eyes.

"Is that why you have these other scars?" I could feel him pulling down my shirt to cover my stomach.

"P-partially… I-I did deserve some of them… a lot of them, perhaps." I felt his arms wrap around me into a hug, my eyes widened.

"No, you didn't deserve them," his voice was gentle. _H-he's being nice to me again?_ His hug became tighter, constricting my lungs. "Blake, I'm sorry." _I can't BREATHE!_ I gripped his shoulders trying to get him to let go, but apparently he took that as an incentive to 'comfort' me more by hugging even tighter. Who would've thought? That I would get killed in the end by KINDNESS, damn, fate can be cruel.

"Julius…!" It felt like my eyes were about to bulge out of my head. _LET GO OF ME DAMMIT!_

"Yes?"

"Can't_. Breathe_."

He let go of me and I fell onto the floor gasping for much needed air.

"Were you trying to _kill_ me?!"

"I'm sorry about that." He embarrassingly looked away.

"May I leave then?" Julius looked at me in confusion. "You said I could leave if my wound was fully healed."

Julius unlocked the door. "You may go then," he grabbed me by the arm just before I left out the door, "but be careful." I smiled at him.

"I will, Mr. Monrey."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

The mortician stuck to the shadows as he watched the white-haired girl move about the café. It just happened to be one of his favorite cafés too, he noted in annoyance. He liked to go there because it was quiet and now it was completely filled with customers. _Loud, anxious, annoying people, how could Blake stand them? _ He wondered to himself, as he watched Blake open the diner door to attend to the customers whom were dining outside.

Blake was wearing a new uniform, he observed. She had a brown vest, trousers, and shoes, along with caramel plaid undershirt with a black bow at the collar. He also noticed that as soon as Blake stepped foot outside, she was completely swarmed by women of teenage years and older all the way up to thirty! Jealousy burned at his insides. The women had their arms wrapped around Blake's arms, and Blake had a very uncomfortable look on her face as she tried to do her job. Envy rose even more within him when he saw a male waiter give Blake a friendly pat on her shoulder.

It took everything within Julius's being at that moment to prevent himself from launching over there and proving them all that Blake was _his_. _Wait, _his_? _Blake didn't belong to him. For all he knew Blake wasn't even interested in him. Blake could be interested in _girls_ for all he knew…wait, is that why Blake dresses as a boy? To get Alice to like him? Julius couldn't see it. Blake was too innocent to see the things Julius could've done to her (if he was that type of man) while her guard was lowered, let alone have an ulterior motive to capture Alice's heart.

Why would she dress as a boy then? Could it be some sort of strange tradition from the world of the outsiders? But then wouldn't Alice know about it?

He peeked out from behind a streetlight. Now that he thought about it, wasn't he being a stalker? He shook his head. No, no, he wasn't a stalker! He was following Blake for her protection. Yes, that's right; it's his duty to protect her. Why should it be his duty? His duty was to fix clocks not follow women around making sure she wasn't mugged. It was his duty to protect outsiders. Yes, that sounds much better.

He was completely justified in keeping an eye on Blake, he thought to himself as he watched Blake go back inside to handle an order.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

They were walking through the town just below the Clock Tower. Alice winced as rubbed her sore legs. It took forever to get here, because it took all her, the twins, and Boris's strength to drag Ace here. _He's so exhausting!_

"Wow, we really made it! I thought we wouldn't make for at least another three to four time periods~!" Ace laughed linking his arms behind his head. Alice gave him a glare.

"You look pretty tired, Alice. Why don't you rest for a little bit?" Boris suggested, taking in her disheveled state. She could perhaps take a break for at least a little while.

"Big 'Sis, look!" Dum pointed at a small café across the street from them.

"Oooh, a date with Big 'Sis! Yay!" Dee pulled Alice towards the café. _It looks nice._ Alice smiled and took a seat at an empty table outside of it. The twins took a seat on each side of her and Boris across. Ace stood to the side.

"Aww, why don't I get a chair?" Ace tilted his head, scratching his head.

"Because you're the reason _why_ Alice needs to rest." Boris snapped.

"Now, that's just cold." Ace said but his face said another story as he was smiling.

"Welcome to _Café Populaire_. How may I take your order?" The voice was kind, and had a polite accent to it. It sounded extremely familiar. Alice's light blue eyes widened as she snapped her head up to look at the waiter.

"BLAKE?!"

* * *

**THEY FINALLY MEET! Also looks like Julius is turning into a Stalkerish Perv LOL XD (I wonder if I made him a little too obsessed.) Sorry for all the Julius x Blake fluff. I'm going to try laying off of him for a while. Ace is getting neglected.**

**Julius: *glares* I'm not a stalker.**

**Void: Right, you're just following Blake around without her knowledge.**

**Julius: I'm protecting her.**

**Void: Uh-huh, riiiight, suuure, you keep believing that.**

**Also it seems that even Blake has an oblivious side to her. She was pretty sheltered her entire life. lol**

**Hope you guys liked the chapter! Also I do need help on a nickname for the twins to call Blake, I have an idea but I'm not really sure if it would work. If you guys have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please review. I need at least _5 reviews _to post the next chapter.  
**


	12. Chapter XII: The Reunion Part 1

**Sorry that I was taking so long, guys. ;_; The original chapter I was going to post was waaay too long so I cut it in half and put it into two parts. I'm almost finished with Part 2 (just in case if any of you wanted to know).**

**I've had a lot of difficulty writing this chapter, I'm not used to writing scenes with seven to eight characters at once. O_o It was a complete nightmare! It took me forever to be able to figure out how to include all the characters getting an equal amount of interaction with one another (which didn't go as well as I planned it to... T_T).**

**Oh yeah, just as a future**** warning to all my fellow readers: My last year of school will be starting next week, so my updating will probably slow down... by a lot. So don't get angry at me if it takes me a week to update ;_;**

**And I got a lot of reviews! Jeez, maybe I should neglect my story longer so I get more reviews XD LOL no I'm joking I wouldn't do that to you guys... or would I?**

_**Special Thanks To:**_

_**Meadow Melody**_**:****Thanks for the review! And sorry about the delay... ^^; I know you've been dying to read about Blake and Alice's reunion.**

_**FloraRose23**_**:****Thank you so much for the review and the good advice (lol I feel like I'm always asking you for advice XD), I'm not so sure how I did on this chapter. I did kind of bum out a bit ^^; any advice for group interaction is welcome (I kept getting lost with the conversations while writing this and I had to keep rereading a like hundred times so I wouldn't repeat stuff XD).**

_**CherryBerry58**_**:****Yes, Blake can be adorable at times :D thank you for the review, I'm glad you think this story is awesome.**

_**Allora22701**_**:****Yep, Julius totally fell for Blake, he's denying his emotions though as usual. Unfortunately I didn't have time to add a scene with Blake's fangirls, but you will be sure to see a chapter crawling with them... eventually (oh God just the thought of it scares me!)... I feel so sorry for Blake ;_; Thank you for the review!**

**Happy Guest****: ****Aww thank you so much, I feel so touched T_T *so happy* I'm glad you love the story so much! And there's no need to be shy :) I'm actually a really shy person myself, it took me a grand total of three years to post a story on fanfiction (I'm not kidding). After finally getting over your fear, you actually start becoming less and less shy. ^^ Thank you so much for review and your encouragement. Don't be afraid to review, I'll be happy to listen to anything you have to say. :D Even if it is a flame (I welcome flames with a passionate embrace! lol XD I'm such a masochist!)**

**Guest [1]: **** If you thought last chapter was hot, then you're really going to like the next chapter XD of course you'll see it as soon as I get the required reviews. And thanks for the review! :D**

_**Lurking Pheonix**_**:****XD I couldn't help it! I just had to make him stalk her! LOL I just hope he doesn't die of a nosebleed keeping all his pervy thoughts hidden inside his head. Thanks for the review.**

**Guest [2]: I'm sorry that Julius is OCC ;_; I'll try harder to make him more... well, him. Thank you for the review.**

_**meganinja4434**_**: ****Thank you for favoriting and following this story! :D I hope you will review and offer up any suggestions I could use to improve this story!**

**I don't own J/C/JnKnA, QR does. And I apologize that I'm not allowing any of the characters to speak right now. I'm too tired to deal with them. (It's like around 4 in the morning right now O_o)**

* * *

_Chapter XII: Reunited Part 1_

***Blake's POV***

"Y-young mistress!" I almost dropped my notepad I used to write down customer's orders. Her bright blue eyes, no longer dull, smiled up at me in relief. Her skin had color again and no longer was pale. She wasn't looking through me, she was looking at _me_. "Y-you are…" I was at a loss of words. She finally had life in her eyes, after so long of seeing her… I wanted to wrap my arms around her into a tight hug, and cry into her hair to reassure myself that she was here, she was healthy. But I will not do that; I will be a proper servant and keep my distance. I will not allow my emotions to control my actions.

"Blake!" She stood up and strode over to me. "I'm so glad to see that you're okay."

"Why of course, I can take perfectly good care of myself. Whom you should worry about is yourself, young mistress. Heavens, was I worried sick about you. Have you been taking good care of yourself? Are you properly fed? Have you been sleeping well—" Her arms wrapped around me and she buried her face into my shoulder. "M-miss Alice?" I stuttered. _Sh-she's hugging me!_

"You have no idea how worried _I_ was! I'm so glad I can finally see a familiar face." _Sh-she was worried about me?_ I awkwardly patted her back.

"I-it's fine, Miss Alice, I am perfectly healthy. There's no need for you to worry about me."

"Hey, Blake, what's taking so long with those—oh!" Rosie put a hand to her mouth in surprise, she then deviously smiled. "I'll leave you two alone then."

"R-Rosie! I-it's not what you think!" But it was too late; Rosie already retreated back into the shop. Alice was abruptly ripped away from me.

"Stay away from, Big 'Sis, you pervert!"

"We don't want your hands all over her!"

My eyes were wide as I took in the twins who previously tried to kill me the other day. They had their arms wrapped around Alice protectively as they glared at me.

My teeth grit in fury, if Alice should be protected from anyone, it should be from them. My eyes narrowed. _How dare they? First they try to kill me, then they take away my most prized possession, and now they're keeping me away from Alice._ "You two…" My voice was dangerously low. "How dare you two would think that I would harm, Miss Alice." I took a step towards them. "I have taken care of the young mistress my entire life. And you dare think that I would ever take advantage of her." Another step. "Just because she allows you to cling to her sides like the pesky _vermin_ you are, doesn't give you any position to look down upon me."

"Blake, stand down!" I flinched at Alice's harsh voice. Her eyes were like daggers that pierced deep into my chest.

"B-but, M-miss Alice—" She slapped me across the face. It felt like at that moment she just crushed my heart under her polished clog. I held my hand up to my bruising cheek.

"Don't you ever talk that way to them again!" She scolded me pointing her finger in my face. "What on earth has gotten into you, Blake? They're only children!" I looked dejectedly to the ground. I displeased Alice. I am unworthy of being her servant. _I failed her._

"I apologize." I couldn't look her in the eye. "I was out of line."

"Why would he threaten us, Big 'Sis?" The blue one hugged her tighter.

"He's scary." The red one faked tears.

"Shhh, it's okay. I won't let the mean, scary man hurt you." Alice hugged them closer to her. My heart was nothing, but a smeared bit of blood on the floor now. I noticed that they gave me mischievous smirks when Alice wasn't looking. _Those demons…_ I glared at them.

"He's glaring at us, Big 'Sis!" the blue one fake-wailed. I cringed back as Alice scowled at me.

"_Blaaaake_, what did I just say?"

"Aww, aren't you being a little too cold to Blake, Alice?" Familiar long arms wrapped around me and pulled me back. My back was pressed against a tall, warm body. _Ace…_

"Mind your own business, Ace!" Alice snapped at him.

"So we meet again, huh, 'Mr. Boy-who-screams-like-a-girl-on-a-rollercoaster'." The Cheshire cat grinned at me.

"It seems that you managed to live up to your promise."

"You don't seem too happy about that, come on! I deserve a little gratitude! I _did_ save your life."

"Yeah, you did. After draining me of all my money, which I borrowed from Julius therefore putting me into a huge debt with him; and dragging me onto the Amusement Park's biggest rollercoaster, of which afterwards I proceeded to regurgitate everything, I actually paid for myself, onto the floor; and then leaving me into the clutches of a man who played the most horrendous music I've ever heard in my entire lifetime, soon after which I got stuck in the middle of a fight between amusement park workers and the _mafia_. So please do tell me, Boris, why I should be thankful?"

"Uhh… I saved your life?" Yep, he's such a self-centered cat. How typical.

"You're so mean, kitty! Putting my little angel into danger like that." Ace teased Boris. At least I had _one_ person on my side. "I wanted to hear Angel's screams too. I'm so jealous, I just might have to kill you~." _Oh my God, is he serious?!_ I saw that Boris was warily eyeing Ace behind me. I really wish I could see Ace's expression right now so I could know whether or not he's serious. But even if I did see his expression I probably wouldn't be able to tell.

"Angel?" Alice snapped her head in our direction. "Wait, Blake is _Angel_?!"

"Why of course Blake is Angel, he's just the sweetest and cutest thing I've ever met~!" My face turned completely red in embarrassment. _Did he really have to say that? And IN FRONT OF ALICE OF ALL PEOPLE?!_ Boris broke down into laughter.

"Meowrahahahaaha! _Angel?!_ HAHAHA!" He was rolling around on the floor. "Th-that HAHAHA NAME! Oh, you poor thing! HAHAHA!"

I hid behind Ace in complete and utter humiliation. Even the twins were giggling. _This isn't fair… wahhhhh!_

"Quit being mean to Blake, guys!" Alice put her hands on her hips and reprimanded them, but it was no use and Boris and the twins continued rolling around the floor in laughter. She giggled a bit herself though, putting a finger to her chin. "Angel _is_ a fitting name for you, now that I think about it. I remember when we were little you used to tuck me in; you were like a guardian angel to me." She smiled at me.

If it was even possible, I felt even more embarrassed than before. "M-miss Alice, please don't share such p-private information with them," my voice was very quiet and squeaky. I shuffled my feet timidly on the cobblestone. _I'm not an angel… _

"Aww, that's so cute, Angel~!" Ace glomped me. "I want you to tuck _me_ in, at night~."

"Never."

"Whyyyy?" he whined, hugging tighter. _At least, he doesn't hug tight enough to crush my lungs… unlike someone I know._

"Because you're a grown man, you can take care of yourself."

"That's not faaaaaiiiir," he whined rubbing his cheek against the top of my head, a tingle went through me from his closeness, "I can't take care of myself~ I _need_ you." His red eyes pierced into my honey ones. My stomach did flips. _Wh-what the bloody hell is he doing to me?!_

"Ace, quit molesting Blake!" Alice yelled at the knight.

Ace went still as if he were contemplating that. "Hmm, do I want to let go of him and be bored, or cuddle him and watch him get all embarrassed~?" A firm warmth pressed against my cheek. "Nah, I'd rather see Angel get all flustered because of me~!" I froze in his arms. _D-did he j-just KISS ME ON THE CHEEK?_ My face became even redder if that was even possible. I felt my heart speed up as I squirmed out of his hold, and smoothed out my clothes.

"I-I have w-work I n-need to attend to, uh, I'm sorry, b-but I'll have Howard attend to you. I'll come back to you when my shift is over, young mistress." I looked to Alice, and held up my hands as if I could magically make her stay put. "Just… don't go anywhere, please." _I _really _don't want to go on a whole other adventure to find you, again._

"Good job, Ace, you scared him away." Alice growled.

"Jeez, you're creepy, dude. What, are you attracted to guys too?" Boris spoke.

"I'm not picky." My face paled. _Oh God, he's attracted to MEN AS WELL?! Why does fate hate me so?_ I thought, as my inner-self cried rivers.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

_Please let her still be here. Please let her still be here. Please let her still be here._ I opened the door and stepped outside, looking towards the table where Alice was previously sitting. It was empty. _NOOOOOOOOOOOO!_ I fell to my knees, pressing my palms to the ground. I hung my head in utter defeat. _I failed her… I'm such a disgrace to the Liddell family. I should've skipped work… My duty as Alice's servant is more important than anything else. How could I have been such a fool?! Such a complete and utter fool!_

"Uhhh, are you praying or something?" A familiar cat's voice sounded behind me. I flipped around to see Alice and the gang standing behind me, gawking at me. _Oh my, this is incredibly awkward._

"No, no, I was just… uh, inspecting the… cobblestone," I lied rather than admit what I was truly thinking.

"Riiiight."

I noticed that Ace was staring off into the distance. _What's wrong with him?_ Suddenly he grinned.

"You know we can see you, Julius~." _What._

"This… no, there's no way that could be Julius," Alice deadpanned, "he _never_ goes outside."

"We can see ya!" The twins cried out together. "You're not very good at hidin'!"

Boris sweatdropped. "Does he seriously think that we can't see him?"

I looked across the street to where everyone else was looking at. Julius was attempting, but failing, to hide behind a streetlamp. He sucked in his stomach and stood completely still, he was trying to so hard not to be seen I kind of pitied him. _Wait… how did I not notice him there before?!_ I felt like a complete idiot. Even passing by faceless, gave him looks of confusion. It was impossible _not_ to see him. I groaned to myself. And of course, I achieved the impossible.

"I mean what kind of idiot would it take _not to see him_?" _Thanks, Boris; apparently I'm that type of idiot._ I wanted to curl up into a hole and die.

Ace went over to Julius who continued to ignore him. "Julius, I don't like being ignored~." Julius ignored him anyway. Next thing Julius knew Ace was dragging him across the street over to us.

"Let go of me, fiend!" Julius finally acknowledged Ace's presence.

"Haha Julius! You're so silly. So~ why were you following Angel?" _Huh? Following me? Julius was following me?_ "Are you in love with him~?" _Wh-what kind of question is that?! You don't just go right up to someone and ask them that! That's improper!_ Then again, Ace is anything, but proper.

"Wh-what?! That's preposterous!" Julius's face turned beet red. "Of course I don't _love_ him." My heart twinged a bit when he said that. _Wha- but why?!_

"If you don't love him, then why _are_ you following him?"

"I'm not following him."

"What were you doing then, Julius?" Alice piped up. "You never leave the Clock Tower, so it must've been important." I could see Julius twitching a bit from the pressure that everyone was putting on him. I felt bad for him, even though I was just as curious as anyone else, if not more, of why he was following me, but I'll spare him the torture. I'm not that cruel to sit by and just watch.

"He must've wanted some more of my coffee," I joked, "I have been neglecting him of his addiction as of late." He glared at me at first; probably thinking that I was making fun of him, but then realized that I just provided him an opening to avoid their questions.

"Y-yes, I'm afraid that the boy is correct, I've been low of caffeine lately and it's been causing me to do rather, obscene things lately." _Uhh, Julius, you didn't have to add that end part._ Ace smiled.

"What kind of obscene things?" _Yep, I had a feeling something like that was coming. Sorry, Julius, I can't help you now._

"You do not need to know."

"Why of course I do!" Ace laid an arm over Julius's shoulders. "We're buddies, remember!"

"We're _colleagues_…" Julius muttered just low enough so only Ace and I could hear it.

"What about my coffee, Julius?" Alice asked sweetly, but her face was dark. "Don't you love my coffee as well?"

"I e-enjoy it, yes." Julius looked terrified. Wow, even Julius is scared of Alice.

"I'm just kidding, Julius. I know Blake's brewing skills are amazing. In fact, where we came from his skills were legendary, along with his cooking." Alice bragged about me, causing my face to go pink. _Why is she bragging about me?_ "My father would only have his tea and coffee brewed by Blake, and no one else. And he would make breakfast for me and bring it to my room every morning, unless I wanted to eat with my sisters." Alice eyes grew sad as she gazed off into the distance. My heart twisted in on itself. It was as if she was remembering her sister's funeral all over again. "I hope Lorina isn't mad at me…" That's right she doesn't remember; Nightmare has been messing with her memory.

"Miss Alice," I spoke softly, "Lady Lorina isn't mad at you."

"She isn't?"

"She loves you very much, and she would want what's best for you, that means whatever makes you happiest." Alice smiled absentmindedly.

"I guess you're right, she would want that."

"Yes," I gently placed a hand on her shoulder and began guiding her towards the tower, "I'm sure you've traveled far to come here."

"Not really, it just took longer than it should of." I noticed that she threw a glare at Ace, and I laughed in pity.

"Even so, I'm sure you are exhausted. Come back to the tower, and I'll cook dinner, my treat."

"Are you bribing me?" I laughed.

"Is it working?"

"Yeah, it is," she grinned. "I missed your cooking."

"And I missed you eating all of the leftovers." I chuckled. "I swear there was almost nothing left for me to eat every meal except when I would make beef stroganoff." I watched Alice's face turn green. _She always hated that dish._

"You don't plan on making that tonight, right?"

"Of course I'm not. I have rather a different surprise in store."

"Oooh~ a surprise!" Dee popped up at my left.

"We wanna see the surprise!" Dum appeared on my right.

"Is it fish?!" Boris's yellow cat eyes were bright.

"Yeah, I want to know what this _surprise_ is, Angel. Do I get it~?" Ace hugged me from behind, his voice eager. I rolled my eyes.

"It's only for Miss Alice; none of you will be receiving it."

"Aww, that's not fair!" The twins whined. Of course it is; why should I give, you two, anything? You tried to _kill_ me!

My twitched eyebrow twitched as I bit back a snarky comment. No use in trying, Alice will just end up defending them because they're 'poor and innocent children'. Yeah, right, if you can call an attempt of murder, innocence, then sure.

The door jingled and Rosie appeared. "Oh, you're still hanging around, honey? I thought you left a while ago."

"No, I'm still here, ma'am."

Her gaze wandered over to Alice. "And who might this young lady be?"

"Oh, how rude of me!" I gestured my hand towards Alice. "This young lady is Alice Liddell, the young mistress of the Liddell family." I spoke graciously, my voice smoothly going over the syllables as the French are with their own language, my head bowed at a respectful tilt.

"There's no need to introduce me with such formality, Blake." Alice sweatdropped.

Rosie shook Alice's hand. "Oh, Aliice, I've heard so much about you!"

"You have?"

"Yes, yes, I've heard all the rumors spreading across the country of a foreigner that goes by the name Alice. You've stirred up quite the attention. Blake here has told me so much about you."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, a young man traveling from another world, looking for his long lost love! Risking his life!" She spoke in a dramatic voice, and I face-palmed. She was completely twisting the story I told her. She clasped her hands together and stars appeared in her eyes. "It sounds like it came straight out of a fairytale!" Yeah, a fairytale _you_ came up with. "I'm Rosie by the way, sweetie."

The whole gang was staring straight at me; I felt my face turn pink in humiliation. "What?! That is completely not what I told her!"

Boris smirked. "Yeah, right."

"It's not true!" I growled at him.

"Yeah-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!" Wait… did he just trick me?

"I knew it!" He pointed his finger accusingly at me with a mock gasp.

"It's not true, you imprudent cat!"

"But you just said it was."

"Th-that's because you tricked me!" I became distracted by Alice's giggling. "What is it, Miss Alice?" I asked her calmly.

"Hehehe you two seem to be very close friends."

"Wh-wha?" My face turned red. Friends with _him_? NO. WAY. "We're not friends! I'd rather get mauled by a bear than associate myself with him!"

"I couldn't agree more." Boris sniffed.

With a huff, both of us turned our backs to each other.

"Okay, whatever you guys say." Alice sweatdropped.

"Oh! Have you heard about us?!" The twins came running up to Rosie.

Rosie smiled at them. "Why, of course, I've heard of you two, the Bloody Twins, the gatekeepers of Hatter mansion." How can she smile at them knowing who they are? Because the 'Bloody Twins' totally equals 'innocence'. I mean, it's so obvious, right? _Right_?

The twins puffed up their chests in pride. "Yuup! And we'll cut down anybody who tries to trespass." Does that draw a red flag to anyone? Anyone?

I glanced over at Alice to see her reaction and all she did was smile nervously and say, "Cutting down someone isn't exactly the best choice." _Really, Alice? REALLY?! And you still hang out with them? How many times have they said or did something like that, and all you do is sit back and just tolerate it?_ We need to have a long talk later.

"I know who all of you are. Boris, the Cheshire cat. Ace, the Knave of Hearts." Her head slowly creaked towards Julius who was attempting to sneak away. "And where do you think you're going, Julius the Clockmaker?"

"Nowhere," Julius came back. Did I just hear a hint of fear in his voice? "How are you, Rodi?"

"Oh, quite fine, Julius. And how are things at the Clock Tower?"

"The usual," he sounded almost cautious.

Rosie gave him a tight smile. "Have you been taking care of yourself?"

Julius hesitated, "Yes?"

"We need to have a talk later, Julius."

"Y-yes, ma'am." _Wow… wow… did Julius just call my boss 'ma'am'?! Who is she really?_ "Actually there's something I would like to ask you, Rodi."

"I'm listening."

Julius leaned down closer to her and whispered something to her. Rodi let out a gasp, before calming herself down murmuring back to him. I frowned. _What on Earth are those two talking about?_

"Blake, come here honey." She called me over. I shuffled my feet on the ground uneasily, before striding over to her.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Julius here told me that you needed to take a few days off from work."

My eyes narrowed and slid over to Julius. "And why would that be?" Julius gave me a stone cold face.

"He said that you're hurt and that you needed time to heal." Her eyebrows scrunched up together, and she spoke in a worried voice, "How come you've never told me? I would've let you have the week off."

I chewed the inside of my cheek, fumbling with my hands like a child who just did something very bad. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Of course it's a big deal, what kind of manager would I be if I let my employees work while they were hurt?" I guess I could see where she was coming from, but it still made me feel weak, fragile that now another person knew that I got hurt. I don't like that.

"I apologize, Rosie. You already have enough problems with the bills and running the place. I didn't want inconvenience you."

"Oh, you're such a sweet young man." She pinched my cheek, and gently shook my shoulder. "Don't you worry about this woman; I can take good care of myself."

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"How'd you find this young man, Julius? Surely, he wasn't raised by you; his temperament is quite mature for his age." I noticed that she glanced towards Ace. "Unlike someone else." Right on cue, Ace grinned and waved over at us. Wait, does that mean Julius raised _Ace_? Wow, he did a horrible job. "He's really helpful around the café and he's so polite. No wonder the girls are all over him." She cackled. It's not like I _want_ them crawling all over me.

"Ace brought him to me."

"Really now? That's a surprise." Okay, how old is Julius I really want to know now. _Wait, why _do_ I want to know?_

"Mr. Monrey, how old _are_ you?"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I'm twenty-seven, why?"

"Eh? REALLY?" _He's that young?!_

"What's the problem?"

"Oh, I just thought you were in your late thirties or early forties or something." Rosie started laughing, while Julius deadpanned.

"Yeah, Julius can act like an old man." Julius glared at the both of us. "But I've kept you here for long enough. Go on home, and get better, okay honey?"

I nodded my head. "Yes, ma'am."

Julius stalked off refusing to look at me. _Is he brooding?_

Ace patted me on the shoulder laughing a bit. "You're the first person to call him an old man."

"I-I didn't mean to! It's just he acts so mature… and grumpy…"

"Haha yeah! Julius, can be a bit of a grump."

I looked worriedly to his form skulking in the shadows. "Should I apologize to him?"

"Nah, he'll get over it. Just give him some time, and he'll go back to being his cold self again." Ace looked down at me with a glint in his eye. "Unless~…"

"Unless what?"

"Oh, nothing~!"

I stared dumbfounded at him for a few moments. Sometimes Ace made completely no sense whatsoever. Alice popped up from my side almost causing me to jump out of my skin. "M-miss Alice!" I held my hand over my chest. "You almost gave me a heart-attack!"

"Sorry."

"Hmm? Heart attack?" Ace tilted his head to the side in confusion, before grinning like a maniac. "Does that mean your heart thumps really fast? That's not fair Alice! I want to give Angel a heart attack too~."

"Ace," Alice was sweatdropping, "heart attacks aren't something to get excited about. They cause a lot of pain and can kill you."

Ace frowned. "Why would you try killing Angel?"

I sighed heavily. "From the place of which we originate, 'you almost gave me a heart attack' is a sort of expression meaning 'you surprised me'."

"So it _does_ make your heart beat faster."

Both Alice and I sighed, already giving up on correcting him. He was just going to make it even more complicated to explain than it really was.

"Hey, Ace, who is that Rosie lady? Julius seems to know her really well." Alice asked the question, I've been wondering.

"Oh, Rosie?" Ace looked cautiously over towards Blake, before leaning down towards us and whispering, "She used to be Julius's nanny when he was little."

"Really?" Alice's surprise mirrored my own. "It's hard to see anyone raising Julius as a child." I nodded my head in agreement. Rosie as Julius's nanny…? It was hard to picture.

"Don't tell Julius what I'm about to tell you, but Rosie is Julius's number one nightmare."

"But Rosie seems like a genuinely pleasant woman…" I mumbled. She was really nice to me, she did have her scary streak, but she never meant any harm… did she?

"She sure does seem that way, at first. But after a while of knowing her, you start discovering her darker side."

"Her… darker side?" Alice sounded a little frightened, and to be honest I was a little scared myself.

"Mm-hmm, and it turns out that she would kill the children she babysat," Alice hugged onto me tightly, "and then she would grind their bones into the coffee," Ace's shadow loomed over us, "she made for their parents, just before she told them," Alice buried her face into my shoulder, and my face paled, "wow, you really believe this story?" _What._

Alice twitched, before lunging at Ace her fists pounding onto his side. "You big, fat, _JERK_!"

Ace laughed, her fists doing zero damage to him. I silently approached him. "Hmm, Angel? What's wro—" My fist buried itself into the side of his face.

"Don't ever scare the young mistress like that ever again, you_ imbecile_!" He rubbed his cheek, but instead of crying like I expected him to, he just stood their smiling like a moron.

"You touched me… on your own…" Flowers floated around him as he laughed. _What the bloody hell is wrong with this man?! And why the hell are there flowers everywhere?!_ "But you want to know the true story?"

"_Are_ you going to tell us the true story?" Ace just smiled at Alice's irritation.

"Rosie actually hates men; she thinks that men are completely useless."

I frowned in confusion. "But she seems to like me, and I'm a boy."

"Well, you're pretty feminine for a boy."

"No, I'm not," I grumbled crossing my arms over my chest. Alice giggled at me, and I felt myself blush. "So she hates guys… why would she become Julius's nanny, if he was a boy then?"

"That's the thing; Julius looked a lot like a girl when he was younger, so much so, she actually thought he _was_ a girl. She dressed him up in frilly pink dresses, and put bows and ribbons in his hair because of that Julius, was bullied a lot when he was little, leading to his current hatred of people. She completely traumatized him." And just like that, Alice was on the ground laughing. I tried to keep my composure, but Alice's laughing was contagious, and soon enough my sides began shaking with held in laughter.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't be laughing. Hahaha that's so horrible!" Alice tried muffling her laughs behind her hand but failed.

I was leaned up against the wall, gasping for air. _Oh Dear Lord, that poor man, no wonder he was so terrified of her!_

"Is there something the two of you find amusing?"

Both Alice and I froze, before slowly looking up at a very, _very_ enraged Julius. He was tapping his wrench onto his hand. A light caught onto the polished steel creating a deadly shine. Julius's eyes were a dark blue, and his right eye twitched.

I pointed a finger at Ace. "He's the one who told us." Better him than us.

"Angel! I told you not to tell him!" Ace whined.

"Silence." With that one word from Julius, everyone went deadly silent. Boris and the twins snuck away leaving Ace, Alice, and I to face our doom.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

The twins were running around Julius's workroom in circles, creating a huge ruckus. Boris was playing with them too; the twins were trying to catch him.

"We're gonna get ya, kitty!"

"Yeah, right! As if you guys can keep up."

Ace was standing in the corner grinning like an idiot as usual; I think Julius's wrench to his head caused him to become even more airheaded than before in my opinion. I sat on the couch with an ice pack pressed against my head and tear streams running down my face. _His wrench is really painful… wahhhh…_ I warily eyed a now calm Julius sitting behind his desk concentrating on clock, he was probably satisfied that he was able to finally hit both Ace and I on the heads successfully.

Alice, of course, was spared, and she was currently in the kitchen brewing some coffee for Julius. I offered to do it in her stead, but she was insistent. Now that I thought about it, she probably was brewing him coffee as a sort of peace offering. _Quite the cunning move, young mistress._

I winced as a huge headache started up from the twins' loud giggling while chasing Boris. How does Julius do it? No wonder he wants to be alone while working. To be honest, I was surprised that he didn't kick them out a long time ago. The twins and cat ran around the couch behind me, their loud movements adding to the rising pressure in my head. _Screw it! I'm going to teach these guys a lesson since no one else will! And maybe Julius will even forgive me for my rude actions earlier. _I grinned evilly to myself. _Yes, this is a brilliant plan indeed. Not only will I stop the ruckus causing my headache, I will also gain Julius's approval, and most importantly, my __**revenge**__._

I stood up. Boris was running past me, my hand shot out and I pinched onto his ear _hard_.

"Mreowrrrrwharrrrrr!" He hissed his tail fluffing up. "Ow, ow, OW! LET GO! That _HURTS_!"

I caught both of the twins in the crook of my free arm, both of them getting stuck in a head hold. "Ahh! Let go of us!"

"Yeah, let go of us, or we're gonna beat ya up _real_ bad!" Dum tried pushing at my arm to get out of my hold, but my arm didn't budge. I tightened my arm making it harder for them to escape.

Julius and Ace looked up at me in surprise at my physical force towards the trio.

"I don't think you're exactly in the good position to threaten me." I spoke coolly. "I've been waiting, _very_ patiently might I add, for all three of you to calm down, but regrettably, so far, that has not happened. Mr. Monrey has been trying to finish his work that's been piling on top of him caused by fools, such as yourselves, and you're not making his job any easier by disturbing him. Take Sir Ace's example, he's standing silently in the corner being a respectful gentleman."

"Aww, thanks, Angel~ remind me to give you a treat later~."

I ignored his sentence. "Which is surprising, since, normally, he doesn't know when to shut his mouth." I smirked when I saw Ace pouting. "And Miss Alice who's brewing coffee for Mr. Monrey so he will be able to stay up throughout the night in order to finish his work."

"But we were so boooored." Boris groaned.

"Yeah, there was nothin' to do!" Dee spoke up.

"We'll tell on ya if ya don't let go, puppy!"

I raised an eyebrow at the pet name. "_Puppy_?"

"Yeah, you're always arguin' with the kitty all the time, so we decided to name ya 'puppy'!"

"Except you're a mean, nasty puppy."

I glared down at the twins. "I'm not a dog, I'm a human." _Am I really a human though? Can I really call myself that?_ I felt Boris attempt to slip out of my grasp while my attention was on the twins. I twisted on his ear a bit, causing him to hiss. "Don't even think about it, Boris." I scowled at him. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"And why would I be?"

"Because you're supposed to be these kids' role model. You're a bad influence on them, no wonder they're so violent."

A sharp gasp came from the door way and everyone including myself turned our attention to the doorway. Alice was standing there holding a tray with a steaming mug of coffee on it. Her gaze was zeroed in on the trio and I.

I felt myself gulp. _Crap._

Alice placed the tray on a nearby table before putting both hands on her hips, and glared daggers into me. "_Blaaaaaake_… this is the third time today, when are you going to show some self-restraint?!" _Self-restraint? Self-restraint?! I've been showing self-restraint the entire time! It's these idiots who've been running around disturbing Julius, and when I finally step up to stop them, _I'm _the one who gets yelled at?_ I chewed the inside of my gum in frustration. "Blake, let go of them, _now_." I unhanded them, and almost immediately they ran to Alice and hugged her with fake tears.

"He was being so mean!"

"Yeah, we weren't doin' anythin' wrong!"

"A-and he jus' attacked us for no reason."

I felt my jaw drop. Those lying, manipulative, little _demons_. _Please don't tell me Alice bought all that._

Alice pointed her finger towards the door. "Go out in the hallway, Blake."

I bowed, and said meekly, "Yes, young mistress," before heading out into the hallway, closing the door behind me. I slid to the floor my back against the wall. The clocks ticked above me loudly. I hugged my knees to my chest and buried my face into them. _Why does she always believe them over me? Has the young mistress lost her faith in me?_ My hands tightened themselves into fists. _I have failed in protecting her, and now this is my punishment. Miss Alice has lost her trust in me, therefore I cannot be trusted. I do not deserve to gaze upon her face._

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

Strangely enough the twins and Boris immediately cheered up as soon as she sent Blake away. _That's kind of weird… were they faking it? _Next thing she knew Boris was licking her cheek seductively, and the twins' arms were wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Big 'Sis must like us a lot."

"Especially since she chose us over 'puppy'."

Boris yanked her away from the twins and she could feel herself becoming flustered. "No way, she chose _me_. I am much more attractive than that childhood friend of yours," he whispered in Alice's ear, "after all cats are more lovable than pesky dogs." Alice frowned, she didn't like how they were talking down on Blake and how they were comparing him to nothing but a dog. Just as Alice was about to scold them, the twins yelled over her.

"There's no way Big 'Sis would choose you, kitty!"

"Yeah, Big 'Sis loves _us_!"

Julius finally snapped; standing up with a dark glare in his eye he slowly pulled out his wrench. "Get out of my workroom." Boris and the twins immediately skedaddled out of the room, not wanting to get hit by Julius's wrench famous for causing a lot of damage. Seeing that they left, Julius went back to work.

"Poor Blake, Angel's been trying so hard to find you all this time and all you do is push him away. You're so cold."

"I'm not pushing him away!" Alice stumbled a bit with her words glaring at Ace. But she couldn't ignore the little part inside of her couldn't help but agree with Ace. Blake has been trying his hardest to do what he can for her, and she's giving him the cold shoulder, instead choosing her recently made friends over her loyal childhood friend.

"Well it doesn't matter to me~." Ace pushed himself off the wall and walked closer to Alice. "Push him away, Alice; make him get lost." There was a glint in his eye past his warm smile that Alice didn't like one bit. What was the knight planning to do with Blake? "He's just like me you know… as long as you are not around, Alice, he'll need me." Alice shoved him away, glaring.

"Stay away from Blake! He's nothing like you!"

Ace smiled. "We'll see about that."

Frustrated Alice brought Julius's coffee over to him and plopped down in a spare chair next to him. She blew her hair out of her face. "Julius, what should I do? Blake's probably really mad at me right now."

"Why are you asking me?" Julius spoke in a monotone and continued placing gears inside of the small clock, his eyes narrowed in deep concentration.

Alice ignored his question. "I mean, I don't understand why Blake is acting the way he is. I guess him and Boris became friends at some point so I kinda get why they keep getting into fights, Boris agitates fights really easily at times. But I don't understand why he was so aggressive towards Dee and Dum."

"You know those kids tried to kill him, right?" Ace spoke, but he surprisingly had a serious expression on his face. Alice's face paled at the news.

"Wh-what?"

"Angel was looking for you at the Hatter mansion, but the twins went after him and also took something very precious away from him." Alice felt like an idiot. Wow, she completely failed in connecting the dots. Of course Dee and Dum tried to kill Blake as soon as they got wind of him trying to find her. No wonder he was so hostile towards them, especially when they wouldn't let him anywhere near her. He felt as if he had more obligations to be near her than them, that Blake was more important her than the twins, and she disappointed him.

"I should probably apologize to him…" Alice mumbled. _What did he mean about something precious being taken away from Blake? Wait does he mean the handkerchief?_ She pulled out the silk material out of her pocket. Ace's eyes immediately locked onto it.

"Ohh~ so you were the one who was holding onto it this whole time."

Alice's eyes were wide with surprise. "He cares about this old piece of junk?"

"Mm-hmm, he said that it was his most precious treasure. He thought you would get angry if you found out that he lost it." Alice could tell that Blake took very good care of it; there wasn't one wrinkle in it!

"I've never realized he cared about it so much…" Guilt flooded into her, she never truly comprehended how much Blake cherished their friendship. Now that she thought about it, she was Blake's only true friend. She had to apologize to him. "Thanks, Julius!" She ran to the door.

"Hey, shouldn't you be thanking me. I talked more than Julius." Alice could hear Ace complaining behind her.

Alice opened the door expecting to see Blake waiting on the other side, but Blake was nowhere to be seen. Alice frowned. _Was he so upset that he left?_

"ALICE!" Boris and the twins ambushed her, hugging her from every direction.

"Yay, you came to hang out with us!"

"We're really happy Big 'Sis."

"We scared away Blake so he wouldn't bother us." Sudden anger rose up inside Alice.

"Let go of me!" Surprised, all three of them let go of Alice and looked at her in confusion.

"Did we do somethin' wrong, Big 'Sis?" Dum asked. Alice glared at all of them.

"Yes, you did. And I don't want to talk to any of you right now."

Boris frowned. "What did we do wrong, Alice?"

"You kept bullying Blake! Blake is my friend!"

"But you went along with it." Alice realized that he was right. She let them bully Blake without realizing it.

"Well… I'm not letting you bully him any longer! Until you guys learn to be nicer to him, I refuse to talk to any of you!"

"But—"

"No, 'buts'!" She pointed at a staircase that leads to the exit. "Leave _now_." Boris's ears and tail drooped while he shuffled his feet towards the exit, the twins trailed after him sniffling. Alice felt slightly guilty for making them cry, but they needed to learn boundaries.

Alice began wandering around the tower trying to find Blake. _Where on earth did he run off to?_ The smell of olive oil reached her nose, and she followed the smell to the kitchen. She peeked in, and spotted Blake at the island expertly chopping up some vegetables with a cooking knife. To any other person, Blake would look completely fine, but Alice could tell that he was extremely upset by the slight slope in his shoulders as he silently sulked.

Normally Alice would go right up to any other person and apologize, but she could tell that Blake needed his space. _I'll find time to apologize to him later._

* * *

**I decided to make Rosie part of Julius's childhood XD I thought that would be a funny explanation of why Julius is so anti-social. And I'm sorry that I'm making Alice a little bit mean in here, but I'm having her do some stuff that will redeem her in the next chapter... or will it? **

**Sorry that this chapter was pretty crappy T_T (****I guess I'm getting a little frustrated)**, the next chapter will be much better, I'll make sure of that. 

**Special Note to All Guests who choose to review:**** Please, make a username of some sort, you don't have to make a profile. It's just I hate numbering you guys when I want to thank you I feel like I'm numbering prisoners at a slave encampment or something ;_; and I like to think of all of you guys as individuals.**

**I need at least _5 reviews_ in order to post the next chapter. Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. Feel free to flame. T_T**


	13. Chapter XIII: The Reunion Part 2

**Here's the second part, now that you guys see the length of how much I was writing, you can understand why I split it into two parts ._.**

**_Special Thanks to:_  
**

**_Meadow Melody_, _Smileyface18493_, _CherryBerry58_, _FloraRose23_, _ShinobiShinigami58_, and _Allora22701_**

**Thank you for reviewing and supporting the story! And yes I am becoming lazy with the special thanks, but I PMed all y'all so it should be fine.**

**Dee & Dum: Ooohh, you're bein' a bad girl.**

**Void: Yeah, like you two can talk! You guys skip out on your job all the time!**

**Elliot: Which is exactly why, I'll be dragging you two back now!**

**Dee: Stupid Chickie Rabbit!**

**Dum: Why should we listen to ya?!**

**Elliot: *punches both of them on top of their heads* Shut up you little shits and get back to work.**

**Void: Thanks, Elliot!**

**Elliot: No problem.**

**Void: I don't own J/C/HnKnA, QuinRose does... If I owned it though, I would've made it so that English versions of her game can be sold, so I can actually play it instead of having to spend hours on my laptop researching all day -_-**

* * *

_Chapter XIII: Reunited Part 2_

***Blake's POV***

I was slowly stirring the gravy over the stove. _Maybe I should've been more patient with the twins…_ I tapped the wooden spoon on the side of the pot and placed it on the spoon rest by the stove. Switching over to the pan, I poured some olive oil onto the sweet onions the oil making a satisfying sizzle as I sautéed them. _Blake you don't have time to think about that, concentrate on cooking._ It was easy to forget about everything while cooking. I did the math in my head, and if my calculations were right, all of the food should be done at the same time, I just had to keep track of when to stir this or that or else it'll all become charred.

Arms wrapped around my waist and warm breath tickled my neck. My face immediately flushed red. _Wh-wha? Wh-who…?_

"Smells good." Ace's familiar voice sounded behind me and I relaxed slightly. _Wait, why am I relaxing? If anything I should be completely tense, I shouldn't trust him at all._

"Yes, the rosemary and olive oil chicken does smell quite… mouthwatering."

"No…" He hugged me closer to his chest his arms tightening around me. "_You_ smell good." I felt myself freeze up. _Wh-what?_ He buried his face into my neck and inhaled deeply to emphasize his point. "You smell like mist and honey almost like daisies." Warmth spread from my ears all the way down to my toes. My heartbeat quickened its pace. "I wonder what you taste like," he whispered, his hot breath fanned across my neck and his hands trailed lower down to my hips. My breathing hitched. "Do I make you nervous?"

"A-Ace," my voice was whispery, "I'm trying to c-cook." My hands were shaking as I turned off the burner for the onions so they wouldn't get burnt while Ace… distracted me.

"I know you are, but this was the only time I could find time with you… alone."

I frowned. "And why would you want to see me, alone?" My voice was quivering. _Dear God, what is happening to me?!_

"How are things going with Julius?" It sounded like a completely normal question, but there had to be some sort of motive behind it, especially if he wanted to see me alone.

"I think that… we have…" _Oh bloody hell; I don't know what kind of relationship we have! One second Julius is nice and in the next he's cold and distant. I don't know what to think!_ "…a mutual understanding for one another. We respect each other's personal space." _Well _I_ respect his personal space, I don't know about the other way around. _He did practically go behind my back and take me off of work. _Jerk, I'm trying to pay you off!_

"Is that it?" What? He wanted to know _more_?

"Well, sometimes things can get pretty awkward between us, but that's a social impairment we both share, so it's not really of any significance."

Ace was silent for a few seconds. "Then why does Julius look at you the way he does? Why does he look at you with such… _longing_?" _He does? Why? _ "Why did he follow you?! He never leaves the Clock Tower, not without me there, shadowing him."

I chewed the inside of my cheek. "I really wish I had a cohesive answer for you, Ace, I really do, but… I don't understand the man myself. I barely know him." I laughed dryly. "Hell, I barely know _you_." I stirred the gravy to make sure it wouldn't start hardening on me. Supper should be done soon. "Ace, I'm sorry, I can't help you, but…" A wave of sorrow came over me. _Alice…_ "I want to be left alone, to think about some things… so I'd appreciate it if you—"

"You don't need to be sad about Alice." He rested his chin on my shoulder. I didn't know what to think about our current position, it was so intimate, and yet, it felt so _right_. "If you ever get lost, I'll be there for you. We can be lost together." He sounded almost sad, but happy at the same time. Without thinking I gently placed my hand on top of his head, and I turned my face to look at him. His red eyes were filled with curiosity.

"Ace, you're the last person, I thought, who'd be comforting me actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and you continue to surprise and amaze."

He grinned. "I'm pretty good at that."

"Yes, yes you are." I smiled back at him, before my smile faded away. "Ace, you're really a lonely person aren't you?"

He kept his smile on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"I've noticed it from the moment that I met you, that you had… this mask on. You would put this smile on your face to shield your true inner emotions. The only person that you would take off your mask around is Julius. You care about him deeply, I can tell." My hand slid down to his shoulder, and I comfortingly squeezed his shoulder. "What I'm trying to say is… Ace, when you get lost, you can take my hand, and I'll show you the way…"

Ace buried his face into my neck/shoulder and was silent for a very long time. I was starting to become worried that he might've passed out or something due to his silence, so I was surprised when his rose eyes met mine. "You promise?"

My eyes softened. "I promise, Ace."

"So this means that we're going to get married, Angel, right?"

I deadpanned. _What._ "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you said that if I ever got lost that I could 'take your hand' in marriage." Leave it up to Ace to ruin the moment.

"I didn't mean it like that!" My face was beat red. "I-I just meant that I would lead you when you were lost."

"Oooohh~ there are so many dirty things in that sentence that I would be eager to let you to do~."

"Wha-what are you talking about?!"

"But I assure you, I know exactly what I'm doing when it comes to physical action~."

"Wha-huh?" _I have no idea what he's talking about! But whatever it is, it isn't good._ "Well," I swallowed, "I wasn't proposing to you, okay?"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure! Besides why would I propose to you if we haven't even been on a date, or even kissed for that matter?!" I squeaked. "Not to mention that we're both men—" Suddenly I was flipped around, and Ace pressed his body against mine, effectively trapping me against the oven.

"Well, that can be arranged~." I'm sure he would've leaned in closer, if it wasn't for the fact that l had a kitchen knife pointing at his side. He smiled. "I thought foreigners won't use weapons."

"Whoever said this foreigner wouldn't?" I shot back at him.

"Good point." He suddenly shot forward, pressing a chaste kiss to my cheek before dancing out of my knife's reach. He headed towards the kitchen exit. "Oh yeah, one more thing, Angel." He held up a finger, looking at me with a sly smile. His eyes traveled up and down my body approvingly, and I felt myself self-consciously shuffling my feet on the floor. "You look sexy in an apron." My face flamed.

"_Ace_!" The knife imbedded itself into the wall next to him. He laughed like a hyena while running off. _That idiot._ My face was still red as I pulled the knife out of the wall and threw it into the kitchen sink to be washed later. I exhaled loudly in frustration.

_I feel like I'm forgetting something…_ The smell of something burning reached my nostrils. My eyes widened. _THE CHICKEN!_ I whipped open the stove door and pulled out the black chicken. _Noooo!_ I wanted to cry; instead I banged my head against the counter top.

_That IDIOT!_

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Ace's POV***

Ace's insides were twisting with complete and utter joy. Oh… Blake has no idea how happy he made him. He sat at the table, Blake set up in Julius's workroom, across from Julius and Alice. Ace had a huge smile on his face, but unlike the usual fake-ones, this one was actually real. _Blake you truly are an angel aren't you? Why else would anyone be so kind to me?_

Angel set the food on the table before us. It smelled delicious! "Here is your supper, everyone." He bowed before turning to take his leave. Ace's hand shot out and grabbed Angel's hand, effectively preventing him from leaving, but he noticed that Blake jumped at his touch. His smile became wider.

"There's something missing, Angel~!" Ace felt Blake slightly struggle trying to rip his hand away, but he would have none of that. He pulled Blake down into his lap and hugged him close. "I'm so hungry~!"

Blake froze in his grasp. Ace could feel himself snickering on the inside. Blake was so cute when he did that. "I-If you mean the chicken, I was unable to salvage that—"

Ace chuckled. _Blake is so innocent._ "I meant that _you_ are the one who's missing." He kissed Blake's neck. "How could I eat without the main course," his voice became husky, as he enjoyed Blake's body being pressed against his. Blake's body was so small compared to his; it was so easy to forget that he was a boy.

"A-Ace," Blake squirmed completely flustered, "let go of me this instant!"

"No, I don't wanna!" He grinned. He enjoyed it when _he_ was the cause of Blake losing his composure. "You're so sweet~ I could just eat you up~."

"EAT THIS!" Suddenly a spoon full of gravy was shoved into his mouth.

"Mmrggrhhrrfff!" He felt Blake slip out of his grasp.

Blake ran out the door yelling over his shoulder, "I'm so sorry, that you had to see such a spiteful thing, young mistress!"

Ace strained when swallowing the scalding hot gravy, Blake forced down his throat. He should be more careful from now on; Blake seemed to be very good at finding weapons to use against him in every environment so far. He had to find a place where there would be nothing to use as a weapon against him. A maniacal grin crossed his face as the gears of a plan spun, forming a plan. His thought process was interrupted by a spoon clattering across the table from him. "Hm?"

Julius and Alice were staring at him with wide eyes. Alice had a massive blush on her face that spread from ear to ear, and Julius had a small blush, but his mouth was hanging wide open. Ace found himself grinning at their silly expressions, completely clueless as to way they were staring at him like that, but hey, he didn't mind. They weren't ignoring him.

"Stop it, you guys. I know I'm good looking and everything, but you don't have to stare~." Ace laughed.

"You _PERVERT_!" Alice slammed her hands down onto the table. "Why would you do that to Blake?!"

"Why wouldn't I? He was so adorable, I couldn't resist~!" It was true, he couldn't. Whenever he was around Blake, he always had this sudden urge to touch him.

"Do you have no pride!?"

"Pride? Who needs that, when I could just take whatever I want?" And he wanted Blake, oh so much. _But what for?_ He was pretty sure he didn't love Blake, so he didn't know why he wanted to be near him so much. But who cares, as long as he gets to see Angel's cute face, nothing else mattered!

Alice sighed, smacking her palm against her forehead.

Ace dug into the food that Blake managed to salvage. He thought that it was cute how Angel couldn't think clearly when he was in the room. Noticing that Julius and Alice weren't touching their food, Ace asked, "Aren't you guys going to eat?"

"How do you expect us to eat after seeing something like _that_?!" Alice snapped at him causing him to laugh.

"More for me then!" He grabbed both of their plates easily clearing them. "Too bad the chicken got burnt." It really was too bad. Blake's cooking was really good, and he would've loved to taste the original recipe of chicken with whatever sides he was planning, instead of eating a plate of steamed vegetables and gravy on top that Blake whipped together at last minute.

"Ace… Blake doesn't like to be touched by people."

"Really~? Because he seems to really enjoy being touched by me~."

"No, he gets really nervous when you start touching him—"

"Is that why his heart beats really fast?"

She sighed clearly getting annoyed by me, and I smiled basking in her irritation. "Yes, that's why his heart beats really fast. Anyways, it took even me a couple of years till he felt comfortable with me touching him." Ace felt suddenly jealous. How long has Alice been touching _his_ Angel? He didn't like knowing that Blake has been touched by others. Only _he_ (and Julius) was allowed to touch Blake. He didn't care if he had to lock him up in a cage in order to do so.

"But Angel looked quite nervous when you hugged him today," he remarked suspiciously.

"Yes, well… we used to be really close, he didn't mind if I hugged him then." Ace would have killed Alice at that moment, if it wasn't for the fact that Julius was right there, and that Julius cared about Alice. Envy boiled under his skin. _He_ wanted to be able to hug Blake without Blake trying to get away from him, or attacking him. "But then again, I was always the one who initiated the hug, Blake never hugged me on his own…" she sounded a little sad, and Ace reveled in her sorrow. He grinned to himself. Blake hugged _him_, not _her_. Sure, Blake was scared at the time, but a hug is still a hug!

Ace noticed Julius was fidgeting slightly. "Is there something wrong, Julius?"

Julius turned his face to the side and slightly blushed. "It's nothing." _Ohh~ what's this? Julius is hiding something from me?_

Alice tapped her chin, a frown appearing. "Now that I think about it… I don't recall Blake ever taking off his gloves. Even while washing the dishes—for goodness sake!—he always had some sort of glove on." Ace did remember that Blake was wearing a new pair of gloves while he was cooking. The knight smiled, he was going to have fun finding out _why_.

_Angel, I'm going to have so much fun with you!_ Ace's red eyes flashed with excitement. He couldn't wait to corrupt that pure and innocent angel.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

My heart was thumping wildly inside my chest, my breathing was erratic, and blush wouldn't go away. _What did that imprudent knight do to me?!_ My skin where he kissed me felt like it was on fire. _Did he poison me?! I don't understand!_ I squeezed my shirt covering just over my heart, trying, but failing, to make it calm down. I thumped my head against the side of the cupboard I was hiding inside of. _Why am I even hiding?!_

"_So this means we're going to get married Angel, right?" _I remembered Ace's question from earlier. God, why would he say such a thing? I couldn't tell whether he was kidding, or not! _You don't just say that to anyone…_ But then again, he's Ace and Ace does a lot of… weird things.

"Ugh, why can't I stop blushing?" I closed my eyes. _This sucks… he really did poison me, didn't he?_

I heard the door to kitchen creak open. My breathing stopped. The soft clunk of footsteps echoed off of the tile creating a bouncing effect in the kitchen. It wasn't Ace I knew that, Ace dragged his feet when he walked. _Wait… why did I know that? Am I that familiar with him already!? Dear God, don't let that leech get attached to me anymore than he needs to!_

The footsteps stopped right outside the cupboard I was in, and I went completely still.

"Blake?" I recognized Alice's voice immediately. "Are you in here?"

I opened my mouth on reflex to answer, but nothing came out. I closed my mouth and frowned. Why would she want to talk to me? My eyes saddened. I wasn't sure if I was ready to talk to her just yet. But I shouldn't delay her, should I? I mean what kind of servant doesn't answer their master? A disobedient one, that's what. _Turns out that I'm quite the improper servant, huh? I'm unable to protect my mistress, I've insulted her friends, I've disappointed her, and now I'm becoming a coward. I can't even face her to receive my punishment._

"I know you're in here, Blake. I just… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." What is this? The young mistress is apologizing to _me_? No, no, this can't be right. _I_ should be the one apologizing to her. "I've been pretty harsh on you, and I shouldn't have. You were my friend first before all of them… I should've defended you, but I didn't. That was wrong of me." My heart panged. I pushed open the cabinet door I was hiding in.

"Young mistress…" I slowly pushed open the door of the cabinet I was hiding in.

"Blake…" she stared at me with tear filled eyes, "you're still hiding in cabinets?"

"It's a habit that refuses to die." I joked a bit, my eyes softening as I approached her. I gently wiped away a tear from her face. "Please, don't cry Miss Alice."

Her eyes began streaming with tears as she tried to wipe them away. "I'm so sorry, Blake."

"You don't need to apologize, Miss Alice, I already forgave you a long time ago," my voice was soft.

"Then why were you hiding?"

"Uhh… actually I've wanted to apologize to you for a while now."

"For what?"

"I've… I've lost my composure in front of you not only twice, but thrice. It was unforgiveable and—"

"It wasn't your fault." She stubbornly looked me in the eye. "Boris dug his own grave, and Dee and Dum tried to hurt you." _Great, either Ace or Julius told her this… ohh, when I get my hands on them…_ "And Ace, well, Ace is Ace and there's nothing we can do about him." _Unfortunately so…_

"There's no need to worry about me, young mistress, I am unharmed." _Okay, maybe that was half-lie, since I still have stitches in my side… which I really need to get removed soon because they're itchy as Hell!_ "Oh, yes!" I went over to ice box. "I have a surprise for you." I pulled out a small cake, and presented it to her. "The strawberries were freshly picked today."

"Oh!" She put her fingers to her mouth. "Strawberry shortcake?!" She eagerly grabbed it from my hands, and began digging in with the small spoon that was already provided. "This was my favorite treat when I was a kid! You remembered?!"

I smiled. "Of course, young mistress, how could I ever forget? You used to wake me up in the middle of night all the time just so I could make you one," I chuckled, amused by her sparkly eyed expression.

Suddenly Alice's smile disappeared, and she placed her small spoon down onto the plate now covered in nothing but crumbs. I felt a stab go through my heart. _Was the cake not to her liking?_ "Why are you so nice to me, even after how mean I was to you?" Tears started flowing down her face again. "Why are you so loyal and kind to someone as spiteful as me?" I hugged her not knowing what else do; she tensed up in my arms.

"I could ask you the same thing, young mistress. I've wondered about it for years now. Why you were so kind to me, why you decided to become friends with me? But I decided that it didn't matter. As long as you were my friend nothing else mattered." Her tears soaked the front of my vest. "Everything I do for you is because that you are my friend. You are the most important person to me that I know."

"Is that true?" Her voice was filled with shock.

"Yes, it is." I allowed her to pull away so she could have some breathing air. I led her to a chair so she could sit down, her knees should be weak after crying so much. She plopped down into the chair with no protest and I took a seat next to her.

"Oh yeah! Blake, here." She pulled out the handkerchief that I thought I would never see again.

"H-how did you…?"

"The twins had it, so I took it from them, saying that I wanted it, so they let me keep it." She placed it into my hand. "You need it more than I do." _Actually you need it more…_ I thought as I looked at her tear stained cheeks, seeing my gaze she took out a handkerchief of her own and dabbed away any remaining tears.

"I'm sorry that I lost it…" I lowered my gaze to the floor.

"Don't worry about it. At least, you have it back now, right?"

"I suppose…" I straightened myself in my seat. "Miss Alice, I need to ask you something serious." I looked her in the eye.

"Y-yes, Blake?"

"How did you get here exactly?"

"I came here with the twins and Ace and Boris, although we had to drag Ace—"

"No, no, young mistress, I meant how did you get here, in Wonderland?"

"Oh…" she cleared her throat and began her story, "Well it all started when I was in the garden with Lorina…" She explained how Lorina left to go get the cards for the game they were going to play and a white rabbit wearing clothes appeared. He spoke to her telling her that she was supposed to follow him, but then turned into a man and he kidnapped her. "Next thing I knew I was thrown down a large chasm that appeared in our yard. And I was at the top of the Clock Tower. His name is Peter White; he's the prime minister of Heart Castle."

_A prime minister? _"What else did he do to you?!" _Oh dear God, the young mistress kidnapped by a bunny man of all things under my watch! Wait…_ I remembered seeing a white rabbit wearing clothing, but I thought I was hallucinating. _Could that have been—?!_

"H-he…" her face turned red, "he took my first kiss…"

"HE _WHAT_?!" Shock and fury bubbled underneath my skin, as I thought of all the painful things to do to this—this sycophant, once I got my hands on him! "Where else has he touched you?" My voice was dark.

"Well, the most he's ever done to me from then on was attempting to snuggle into me with lots and lots of hugs, but I usually threaten or punch him or both." I felt mad and proud at the same time. Mad that no matter how much Alice tries to keep him off of her, he won't go away. And proud that Alice was sticking up for herself.

_So he's the prime minister of Heart Castle, huh? I'll have to keep in mind to check it out later, and skin his hide. _I frowned, the only problem with that was the Queen. From what Julius told me she tends to behead people… a lot, so I'll have to be very cautious with her. One wrong move and I'm dead.

"He forced me to drink something called the 'Medicine of the Heart'."

I frowned, not liking the idea of someone shoving some unknown medicine down the young mistress's throat. "Why? What does it do?"

"Why, because Peter is obsessed with me, as for what the medicine does I don't really know myself. All I know that it allows me to become part of 'The Game'." She pulled out a small glass vial with its cap in the shape of a heart. A little bit of liquid at the bottom sloshed around.

"Is this what he forced you to drink?"

"Yes. It fills as I interact with this world's inhabitants, and apparently when it fills all the way to the top, I can return home."

"Then we're going to have to get that vial filled up!"

"Unfortunately it's taking a long time for the vial to fill."

"You have to be patient, young mistress; it's only been just over a week."

"A _week_? It's been _months_!" _Months?! Wait—oh…_

I pressed my knuckles to my mouth. "I see now… it must be because when skipping from dimension to dimension the time is distorted, so it's almost impossible to tell how long it's been since you've gone missing in the real world." I nodded to myself. "Yes, that makes perfect sense…"

"That makes no sense! How did you even come up with that, Blake?! Don't tell me you're still reading those sci-fi and mystery novels."

"Tch!" I crossed my arms and tried to keep down the blush that was forming. "Of course not! Why would I read those obtuse books?"

Alice sweatdropped. "Blake… it's so obvious you're still reading them." _She read right through me! The young mistress is as sharp as ever!_ I looked at her in shock, and she face-palmed.

A sudden realization went through me. "Um, Miss Alice?"

"Yes, Blake?"

"How am I supposed to return back to the manor?"

"Uh, through the vial?"

"But I never received one." We both had expressions of 'oh, crap!' I stood up and started pacing back and forth. "What do we do?!"

"Uh, maybe we could get another one from Peter?"

"I'll accept nothing from that bloody animal!" I stopped suddenly and swerved back, laughing. "Of course, it was meant for both of us. We come from the exact same dimension, so there must be a vial provided depending on where you come from of course!" I have to go back with Alice. I don't want to be stuck here, in a land filled with sociopaths! "So when you fill it up and drink it, we'll go back together!"

"I guess… that kind of makes sense." She looked horribly confused.

Then again there was always the chance that Alice wouldn't want to go home. There was nothing for her there, but a grieving house filled with only two of her family members. Perhaps it might be best if she stayed ignorant of her sister's death, and stay in a land where everyone loves her. But that would also be wrong at the same, because that would mean deceiving her, and I would have to lie to her. And nothing hurts me more is when I have to lie to Miss Alice. "Miss Alice, no matter what you choose, whether it's to go back to the manor or not, know that I'll follow you. I'll always be by your side." Someone will have to protect her from all the raging lunatics.

Her surprised expression turned soft as she smiled. "Thanks, Blake. You're a great friend." My heart warmed when she said that.

"Miss Alice…" The light in the kitchen suddenly dissipated as day turned instantly into night. "Oh, it's time for bed then." Alice let out a loud yawn and stretched her arms above her head. "Miss Alice, I set up a small cot for myself in a room I found, you can have it for the night if you want. I can sleep on the couch."

"Oh no, no, no, that's not necessary!" She waved her hands back and forth. "I already have a place to sleep." She does? I could've sworn I've checked every room in this tower and all of them were empty! Then again, I could've missed a few rooms.

"All right then, rest well and sweet dreams, Miss Alice." I bowed my head.

"Goodnight to you too, Blake." Alice sweatdropped with a smile, before leaving the kitchen.

Putting on a new pair of gloves, I turned my attention to the humongous stack of dishes waiting to be cleaned.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Ace's POV***

The knight was filled with the dangerous emotions of jealousy, rage, and betrayal. How could Angel do that to him?! Hugging Alice! He thought_ he_ was the most special one to Angel not Alice. What did Alice ever do for Blake _besides_ become her friend? Nothing! Not one thing! Ace saved his life, took care of him, protected him, showed him the most absolute of passion, and what did he get in return? _Nothing_.

Ace stood outside the door to Blake's makeshift room, his eyes staring menacingly at the tile. He grit his teeth in frustration, he didn't understand why his chest was hurting so much! He gripped the front of his coat with his hand, only for an idea to pop up in his head. He grinned. If he killed the foreigner, the pain will stop, right? You kill the virus that's causing you to be sick and the symptoms will die too.

He slowly opened the door and stepped silently into the room like a shadow of the night. The moon outside the window was the only source of light. The room was empty except for the small cot in the middle of a spot of moonlight that was cast onto the floor. Blake was quietly sleeping, curled up into a ball. Ace stood over him, watching him. Blake's shoulders steadily rose and fell with every inhale and exhale of air. Ace smiled. Angel was completely unaware of his intent. He kneeled down next to him, brushing the hair out of Blake's face. _Completely unaware…_

The moonlight from the full moon caused Blake's hair to glow an ethereal white. _He truly does look like an angel… too bad he had to betray me. _Ace unsheathed his sword, and held the edge of it against Blake's throat. He put his other hand to Blake's chest in case if he wakes up and starts thrashing, and to listen to his dying heartbeat. _I was even going to ignore the fact that you're a boy, Angel…_ Ace readied his arm to drag the blade across Blake's throat.

"Ace…" The knight froze when he heard Blake say his name. _Is he awake?_ Under Ace's hand, Blake's heart was beating softly. Blake's head turned to the side facing him, his eyes still closed. "You're going the wrong way, again… Ace… no… that's not a shortcut…" Ace tilted his head to the side. Angel was dreaming about him? "God… why do you have to be… such a moron all the time…" Ace felt a wide smile cross his face; he didn't know that Angel talked in his sleep. Ace drew his deadly weapon away from Blake's neck, curious as to what else the kid was going to say. "Ace, I told you once… and I will tell you again…" Ace almost jumped out of his skin when Blake weakly grabbed onto his hand. "When you get lost… I'll show you the way…"

Ace's eyes were wide with shock as he stared down at the sleeping face of Angel. _So I was wrong… Angel does care about me… very much…_ He tangled his fingers into her hand that gripped his. _Too bad we're both wearing gloves…_ He wanted to feel the skin of Blake's actual hand.

Ace pulled off the glove of his other hand with his teeth, and touched his fingers to Angel's cheek. _So smooth…_ His fingers trailed up to his forehead where he felt the tiny line of an old scar. Why would anyone want to hurt his precious angel? His eyes wandered to his lips. They were parted slightly, and were a nice rosy pink. _They look so soft…_ He put a finger to Angel's lips feeling their soft texture; he trailed his thumb across his bottom lip. _They __**are**__ soft…_ He tilted Blake's face upwards, and leaned in. _I wonder what they taste like…_ His lips were an only a centimeter away from Blake's, when he stopped. It wouldn't be fun to kiss Blake while he was asleep. Instead Ace settled for tenderly kissing Blake on his cheek.

He leaned his mouth down to Blake's ear and whispered to him, "Don't ever leave me, my precious angel." He then pulled away from Blake, and left the room without a sound. Closing the door Ace smiled. "So you do care about him, Julius?" He turned his head to look at Julius who was standing right there, his eyes dark. Ace didn't miss the steel gun Julius had in his hand. "Why is it that you didn't shoot me then?"

"Believe me; I was ready to pull the trigger as soon as you brought your blade close to Blake's neck."

"Oh~ you're on a first name basis with Angel already~? What happened while I was away?" Ace noticed with slight jealousy that Julius was lightly blushing. "Did you kiss him?"

"No…"

"Hmm? Then what did you two do?"

"Nothing happened."

"Aww~ I can't be nothing, if it makes you blush so…" Ace tilted his head observing Julius's stoic face trying to find even the tiniest hints of crack, but he found nothing. He puckered his lips. "That's not fair…"

"Ace, I need to speak with you about something important." Julius's voice was completely serious, no sarcasm in it whatsoever.

"What is it, Julius?"

"I need you to hunt down these men." Julius handed him a list of names. "I want you to kill them."

"Ehh? Julius, are you sure? You hate it when I pile up work on you like that."

"They are becoming too aggressive in the plaza and have attacked too many people. They need to be stopped as soon as possible."

"Alright…" Ace scratched the back of his head. "I don't see why you care now, when you never really cared too much before…"

"Blake was one of their victims." Ace tensed.

"What?"

"They attacked Blake, at first they tried to beat him up, but then they tried to kill him. They stabbed him in the side with a serrated knife, causing him much pain. He lost a lot of blood."

"Why didn't you tell me this?!" Ace growled, glaring at Julius. Why would he hide this away from him?! _No one_ laid a hand on his angel, and lived to see another day.

"Because I didn't want you to become unstable such as you are right now, around Alice and Blake."

Ace didn't care if he was unstable! That's still the first thing he should've been told when he finally saw Blake again. _I leave you alone for only a few days, Angel, and you're already getting hurt on me._ "So that's why you were following, Blake?" Ace finally understood.

"Yes… I saw them watching Blake as he got off work, if we weren't there, they would've most likely attack him again." Julius put his gun into his pocket. "That's why I requested that Blake have time off from work for a few days, so that you would have time to hunt."

Ace wasn't even listening to Julius anymore as he pushed past him and headed down the stairwell. There was only one word going through his thoughts. _Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. __**Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL.**_

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

It felt like for a moment something was touching my face and lips.

"_Don't ever leave me, my precious angel."_ I thought I heard Ace's voice before fading away.

.

.

.

.

Soft voices from afar were whispering furiously, and then went quiet…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"_AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_" Screaming jolted me awake.

My eyes snapped open, as I sat up on my elbows. After listening to the sound of the ticking of clocks in the hallway for a long time, I laid back down. _Must've been my imagination…_ I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take over me.

* * *

**Yay! Alice and Blake made up! :D I have to say, I really like how this chapter turned out. How'd you guys love all the Ace x Blake fluff?! ^^ *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink***

**Anyways I have a question? To people who know a lot about Nightmare. Any Nightmare fans out there? Especially people who've read the any Nightmare centered mangas (my local library doesn't provide any). And most especially people who've actually played the games. Yes, maybe, no? Well, I want to know as much as I can about his abilities in the dream world as possible, that would be very helpful, thank you.**

**Also I need _at least 7 reviews_ until I post the next chapter!**

**Alice: Aren't you raising that a little high?**

**Void: That's the gist of it.**

**Alice: But won't it take longer for them to review?**

**Void: Nah, how long it takes, depends on them.**

**Alice: Why are you raising the reviews?**

**Void: 'Cause I'm going to be really busy this week preparing for school next week and *opens bedroom door and gets buried underneath a pile of junk* $^$%#%%$?!**

**Blake: Miss Void?! *panicking* Are you okay?!**

**Void: *pops up out of the pile* Wow... it's worse than I thought, my mom's going to kill me.**

**Alice: Well, at least we understand why she's raising the bar... *sweatdrops***

**Blake: *nods in agreement***


	14. Chapter XIV: Devotion of a Servant

**I'M FINALLY BACK!**

**School takes up all me time! D:**

**But I've managed to finish this chapter by... well, not doing my homework (be happy!) :P**

**And thank you for all the wonderful wonder reviews! Hehehe get it? _Wonderful Wonder_ revie-**

**Boris: That was the worst pun... _ever_.**

**Void: Sh-shuddup! Like _you_ can do better!**

**Boris: Of course I can! I pun and troll people all the time without them even realizing it until I'm out the door.**

**Void: But-! *deflates* wait, I can actually see that *mumbles***

**Boris: *smirks, before turning his attention to you guys* What this pitiful girl, here, is trying to say, is that she's really really, happy of all of your supports and reviews.**

**Void: *being emo in a corner* I'm not pitiful...**

_**Special Thanks to:**_

_**Meadow Melody: **_**Here's the not-soon update ^^ lol, thanks for the review.**

_**Allora22701**_**: Hope you like this chapter, thank you for the review! :)**

_**CherryBerry58**_**: Haha aww, thank you, Blake is a sweetheart huh? :D Also thank you for the review, follow and favorite's for the story! ^^**

_**ShinobiShinigami58**_**: Aww, I'm glad I made your morning, it warms my heart to know that I'm making people's days better. :D I hope you like this chapter.**

_**FloraRose23**_**:**** Lol, I looked back at what I typed and realized there were a lot of cheesy things I typed XD Thank you for the review! I hope you enjoy the Nightmare in this chapter! I think I did a pretty good job with him.**

_**Smileyface18493: **_** I do this because I'm a very cruel person ^^ LOL keep an eye on those gloves, they're important... very important for... stuff... (lol, I'm not giving anything away) Thank you so much for the review!**

_**Lurking Pheonix**_**: Haha I'm glad you love Ace x Blake fluff! :D I have more ideas stirring already! Oh yeah I'm going to make it harder for you to choose which pairing you like more :3 I'm so happy that this story is one of your favorite HnKnA fanfics! It's a dream come true... *eyes sparkling* Thank you so much for the review!**

**Prisoner 007 (Guest): Ah, don't worry 'bout the bad pun. ^^ I do bad puns all the time myself, lol (we're so punny). Blake is stronger than you think *wink* You should have more confidence in her. Lol although I can see why you think she'll die... or will she? Thank you for the review!**

_**Tziphora**_**:**** Thanks for the follow and story favorite and _review_! :D Wow, that's so cool! I was able to convert someone into liking Ace! (points for me and you just 'cause) Yeah, I understand your feelings about Ace, I used to be very... creeped out/terrified/cautious of him, but now I like him more... along with those three last emotions, XD lol can't trust Ace with _anything_. Thank you so much! :)**

**_LittleStar555_: Wow, Blake really must be adorable if so many people say so :D I'm overjoyed that you love the story, thank you for the review, and the story favorite!  
**

_**Ruby Salamander**_**: Thanks for the review! ^^**

_**SongsofSiren**_**: Thank you for the follow! I hope you'll review in the future! ^^**

**MoonlightShadow (Guest): Julius still has the pocket watch as Blake still hasn't ****paid off her million dollar debt (lol) with him yet. Let's just hope he doesn't lose it in a pile of clocks somewhere... I'm glad you like Julius x Blake I'm working my butt off to find ways to... well get them in awkward situations or at least more romancey ones (it doesn't help that Julius is a shut-in ugh, quit making my job hard!) Thank you for the review, I'll be happy to hear reviews from you in the future. :D And remember there's no such thing as an unhealthy addiction ;) lol**

**Boris: Don't listen to her. She's the last person you want advice from.**

**Void: Quit being a meanie!**

**Boris: Then quit being an idio-_*bleeeeep* _*blinking in confusion*_  
_**

**Void: If you keep being mean to me I'll mute you! I do not own J/C/HnKnA, QR does.**

* * *

_Chapter XIV: The Devotion of a Servant_

***Blake's POV***

Everyone I've ever known has always treated me as if I were a freak of nature.

"_Oh, is that him?" The maids whispered among themselves, unaware that I could hear everything they were saying due to my heightened hearing._

"_I heard that he used to live at the mansion that just burnt down recently, the Oakley's."_

"_Isn't that the family the late Lady Ellora married into?"_

"_Yes, the entire family was killed including her only son and loving husband."_

"_Such a shame."_

"_They say that little boy," a red-head inconspicuously nodded her head towards me, "was the only survivor. They found him in the middle of the wreckage. They say he should've died from at least the carbon monoxide, but he was completely fine. Not one burn mark!"_

"_Surely, it was an act of God."_

"_I wouldn't say that," an older maid spoke, "they say that they found him standing there… staring at the police."_

"_I'm sure he was traumatized!"_

"_No," the maid shook her head, "that's the thing. Once they took him out of the house he started smiling and laughing as if he were happy all those people died."_

_The maids gasped. "How horrible!"_

"_Work of the Devil, I tell you."_

"_Shh! He'll hear you!"_

An outcast.

_A group of other servants just a little bit older than myself, which I was fifteen at the time, were playing poker._

_I sat on the side-lines watching the game play out, having nothing else to do as I was on break._

"_Say why doesn't he join?" It took me a minute or two to realize that the newbie was talking about me._

_An older, gruffer servant threw a couple of his cards in the card pile. "Best you not associate with that fella."_

_This was very rude, considering the fact that they were both aware I was in the same room with them, and were talking loud enough that I could hear. I went back to concentrating on sewing the small tear in my sleeve, trying not to eavesdrop, but I couldn't really help it as they were talking about _me_. _

"_Why not?"_

_The old servant's dark eyes pierced into mine as he spoke to the kid who was roughly my age. "He's dangerous."_

"_He doesn't seem dangerous."_

"_He doesn't seem it, you're right. But trust me, boy, that boy is like a snake and as soon as you get close to him, he'll strike out at you and go for the kill."_

"_Why would they let such a dangerous person work here?"_

"_Because the only person keeping him here is the old Lord Roderic Liddell, once he dies… I assure you, that boy won't be kept around much longer."_

_I accidently pricked myself with the needle point, causing blood to rise from the small puncture wound. I watched the blood drip from my finger. That's right, the old Lord was going to die soon… it was only a matter of time… I squeezed my hand into a fist. I wanted to fight that man. He had no right to disrespect neither Lord Roderic nor his judgment. But I held back. I knew if I fought back, it would look bad on my part, and I would disappoint the Lord, so I held my tongue and said nothing. I stayed my place as the outcast._

A curse.

"_MY WIFE IS DEAD! YOUR DAUGHTER! AND YOU STILL PROTECT THAT BOY!" Lord Liddell roared at the old Lord Frederic, as I cowered behind him. "AND NOW MY ELDEST DAUGHTER IS SICK WITH THE SAME DISEASE THAT KILLED MY BELOVED WIFE, AND YOU STILL WON'T LET ME STOP THE PROBLEM!"_

"_The problem doesn't lay with the boy, Thomas. My daughter died years ago, and suddenly my grand-daughter develops the same disease as her mother years later, is no strange coincidence. It's genetic, it ran through the family for generations, and you're blaming a disease on the fault of a boy."_

"_I'm sick of you defending that boy! When are __**you**__ going to open your eyes, Frederic! That boy has already poisoned your mind with his angel face and honey-sweet words."_

"_You're not thinking rationally, Tom."_

"_**I'm**__ not thinking rationally? __**You're **__not thinking rationally! That boy will never replace your precious Ellora!"_

_Lord Frederic slammed his wrinkled hands down onto his desk. "DON'T YOU EVER INSULT HER!" He began wheezing heavily, sweat dripping from his brow. Worry ate me from the inside._

"_Lord Frederic," I gently touched the old man's shoulder, "perhaps you should sit down and rest."_

_He patted my hand. "Don't you worry about me, young lad. I'm not dead yet." My heart twisted in sorrow. He was so close to death, he shouldn't joke about that. He could no longer walk standing straight up, instead he was hunched over and had to use a cane to get around. And it was getting harder and harder for him to breath._

"_Lord Frederic, perhaps you should sit down and rest," Lord Liddell mocked me in a sickly sweet voice. "Tch, letting yourself get sucked up in his lies." He spat. "What happened to the young, confident Frederic I used to know?"_

"_He grew into an old, confident, take-no-hogwash from no one Frederic, so that means I won't be taking any hogwash from you either."_

_Lord Liddell growled, "Frederic—!"_

"_Get out of my office. Quit harassing this poor old man, and let him have some piece of mind." Lord Frederic staggered over to his office window, overlooking the garden. He slowly lowered himself into the chair, and watched his grand-daughters, Alice and Lorina, have tea. "Blake, I'd like to have Darjeeling tea." A pang of pity went through me. He hated Darjeeling, but he knew that was Alice's favorite. He wanted to spend as much time with his family as he had left, even when he couldn't be there with them._

"_Yes, my lord." I bowed my head to him._

"_Fine, I'll go. But know this, Frederic. That boy will be the downfall of this family, just you watch."_

"_If this family falls, it will be because of you, its head, not because of a little servant."_

_Lord Frederic died that very night from a heart attack._

I was the secret that must always be kept lock away. No one must ever know the truth, not Alice or any of her descendants. The truth will die with me.

I stood there, staring into the swirling grey darkness of the dream realm. Memories of the past continued to flood over me. Every moment I felt sorrow, every moment I felt happiness, every moment of fear, and anger, everything.

I closed my eyes. Now, none of that mattered… I was in a world where no one knew who I was, _what_ I was. I could finally have a fresh start in a new world with Alice. This is what I've always wanted right? To live in a place where I wasn't hated, a place where Alice and I will always be happy. _But if she wants to go back, I will follow._

_**Are you sure about that, Blake?**_ A voice inside of me spoke. _**You know what will happen to you, if you go back, right?**_ I clenched my hands into fists. _Of course, I do! But I'll do anything, if it means Alice's happiness._

"What is this secret of yours, I wonder?" A familiar voice spoke above me.

I glanced up, recognizing the silver-haired dream demon I met in a dream before. "Nightmare…" I then remembered his question, and my eyes met the shadowed wisps of darkness beneath my feet. My heart wrenched in sadness. "You c-can't know, n-no one must know," my voice shook. _Why must I show so much weakness? Why, now, do I finally start to break down after so many years of hiding it?_ "No one, especially Miss Alice." _I can't bear the thought of her knowing._

"So it seems that even you are hiding things away from Alice."

It was as if someone slapped me across the cheek at that moment. I had no right accusing him of brainwashing Alice before, when I, myself, was keeping things hidden away from her. "Yes…" A tear slid down my cheek as I refused to meet his eyes, I turned my face to the side so he wouldn't see my tears. "I have been hiding things away from Miss Alice, and believe me when I say this, it hurts beyond measure. It hurts having to keep secrets and lie to her, when she's done nothing, but tell me hers." _Well not so much recently, but that's understandable, she's a woman and I am a man that has become a boundary. "_But it hurts even more knowing what she would do, what she would think of me as, if she ever found out.

"This is the _one_ selfish thing I want. The only one. I don't want Miss Alice to hate me; I wouldn't be able to bear it, if she were to hate me." My voice was almost a whisper at the last part. _Oh God, why am I telling him this? If I continue this, I'll weaken even more, and maybe even possibly tell him—_

"What is this 'secret'?"

Memories tore through my skull at that moment.

"_You're not my daughter, you hellish creature." A man glared down at me with pure hatred in his eyes._

"_Stay away from him, he's dangerous." The servants whispered furiously to each other. "Didn't you hear? He poisoned Lord Frederick! He used a type of drug that induces heart attacks and leaves no trace of itself in the blood steam. He put it in Lord Frederick's tea. Darjeeling tea! Lord Frederick always hated that kind of tea, he must've forced him to drink it." _

"_He's a monster."_

"_A snake."_

"_The face of an angel, the heart of the Devil."_

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I held my head between my hands as I crumpled to the ground. "Stop it!" I said a little weaker, tears streaming out of the corners of my eyes. I tried rubbing them furiously away. _Why must I become so weak? What has happened… to all my strength, my resilience? Have all the walls, I spent my entire life building, crumbled in an instant?_ At that moment I felt long thin arms wrap around me, embracing me into a warm hug. My eyes widened as my cheek was pressed against the dream demon's shoulder. _I-is he hugging me?_

"I'm sorry." It took all everything inside me not to break down just as those two words, but I couldn't help but shake. "I didn't mean to upset you, Blake." He comforted me, stroking my hair.

A strangled cry came from my throat. _Why is he so kind to me? I don't deserve his kindness. I don't deserve anything!_ I gripped the front of his shirt.

"That's not true, Blake. Everyone deserves kindness and happiness." I peeked up to look at him, only to see him smiling kindly down at me, his soft silver eye filled with gentleness. My stomach became fluttery all of a sudden. Not used to the strange feeling, I squirmed out of his grip. He let me go with a slightly wide eye.

"Everyone else deserves it except for me." I looked at the ground again, my eyes filling with sadness. "Don't waste your kindness on me. I'm a snake. I'll end up hurting you, if you get too close." I repeated the words that so many people have spoken about me again and again. Every word of it is true.

"So you believe that you're a danger to Alice?"

"Yes…" I admitted, "I'm just as dangerous to her as any other psychopath in this land, but I can't help staying near her. I have to protect her from myself, but I just can't help it. She's my only friend." I hugged myself, and whispered, "I don't want to be alone." _I want her warmth, her kindness to blanket around me… to make the cold darkness go away. I want her to be happy and free, because I know I never will be. I want her to have all the things I can never have._

"You're the most selfless person I've ever met…" I looked at him, as if he were crazy.

"Don't be so foolish. It's selfish enough of me to endanger Miss Alice, let alone lie to her. How could I even possibly be _selfless_?" He pressed his hand against my chest causing me to falter.

"I can read your heart, Blake." He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice. "I can see the darkness that swirls around in it, but…" He looked into my eyes. "Your intentions are pure. It's the purest of intentions I've ever seen…" I stared at him. _Pure? My heart is… pure? How could that be…? I-it can't be true. There are different kinds of pure, right?_ "You're always calling Alice the kindest person you've ever met, but I think… that you're kinder. You watch over her from a distance, no matter how much it hurts you, you'll put her first, before you." He chuckled. "You're a lot like Peter."

My face darkened immediately. "Did you just compare me to _him_?"

"I-I, w-well um—"

"Did you just compare me to that perverted, dimwitted _rabbit_? The same one who took the young mistress, against her will, into a land filled with sociopaths that could at any second endanger her life, and may also from time to time _touch_ her without her permission first and then proceed to claim that she's _his_. Is this the same rabbit we're talking about?" I smiled with daisies and rainbows forming around me.

Nightmare looked absolutely terrified of me, shrinking back and everything. "U-um, I d-didn't mean anything by it, I-I j-just meant that y-you both care about Alice, v-very much!"

"We both care about the young mistress…" I was twitching erratically, and my eyebrows scrunched up together almost painfully as I let my anger emerge from me. "_No one_ cares as deeply for Miss Alice as I! I would do anything for her if it means her happiness! I would follow her to the ends of the earth and beyond!"

He sweatdropped and mumbled, "I'm pretty sure that Peter would do the same thing."

"B-but I've known Miss Alice much longer, I know more about her than he does." I wavered.

"That may be true, but you haven't really been in touch with Alice's feeling as of late. Peter is more aware of what's been happening to Alice than you."

**(A/N: WARNING: Dark Blake ahead. Reader discretion is advised.)**

"Ngh!" I flinched, as if I was slapped. "If that's the case…" I smirked, "I'll just have to kill him. Once he's gone, no one will know more about Miss Alice than me." I snickered, while rubbing both of my hands together. "Oh, no, no, no, that's too easy. He doesn't care about dying, no. No one here does. I'll keep him alive, while I make him go through the most unb_earable torture that even the famous torturers of Italy shiver at_." _I'll make sure to hit every point of pain in his body. His obsession for Alice should keep him alive. _"And when that moment comes, when he _begs_ for me to _kill him_, I won't do it. Oh no, I'll leave him there as mass of flesh trapped in his own misery and pain, all _alone_."

**(A/N: Discretion is no longer required.)**

Nightmare was shrinking away from me in complete terror. "I was wrong… your intentions aren't pure. They're evil!"

I smiled; walking up to him as he backed away from me, until I lunged forward and my hands were placed firmly on both of his shoulders, trapping him. "I have a question, Nightmare?"

"Y-yes?" he almost squeaked.

I looked at him straight in the eye completely serious, while he squirmed underneath my gaze like a caterpillar. "What is this game that Miss Alice is playing?" I stared at his face for any hint. "The perverted rabbit shoved the 'Medicine of Heart' down her throat, forcing her to play a game of some sort to get her home. She told me that she had to interact with the inhabitants of this world in order to get home, but…" I narrowed my eyes, "there's more to it than that, isn't there?" _That would be too easy if that was really the game, there had to be other factors in it, in order to make it 'fun'._

His face went neutral. "You're right, there is more to it. I'm sure you've already heard the saying."

"_Everyone loves an outsider_." I repeated. "How does that tie in to the game? Does that mean everyone here in Wonderland is in love with the young mistress?"

"This game was created to make Alice happy. It requires her to interact with us. The more she interacts, the more she gets attached."

I frowned. "I'm not following. So the more her vial fills, the more attachment she has to this place?" My eyes widened in realization. _How sneaky. _"The choice will be hard, when she fills the vial. To stay in this place where she has become attached with the world's inhabitants, or to go home… and find out…" I swallowed a thick clot forming in my throat.

"Yes… that would be the bad ending. We can't let Alice go back, if she does she'll remember everything, and her heart will surely break."

I grit my teeth. "Don't be so sure about that. Human hearts are broken all the time, but they can be repaired through time. Pain helps us become strong, it gives us wisdom."

"We both know that Alice doesn't grieve the same way as everyone else in your world." I winced knowing that he was right. "If she remembers, she'll go back to the way she was before she came to this world."

My head drooped forward. "I know… it's just," I squeezed my eyes shut. "It feels so wrong. I just want her to be happy without deceiving her… I'm so tired of deceiving her." I paused for a moment. "Maybe one day, I'll tell her the truth about myself. She deserves to know."

"… I know… I don't like deceiving her either, Blake," Nightmare's voice was soft, comforting, "but if it means protecting her I'll do it."

I was quiet for a long while as I regarded his words. "You're in love with Miss Alice, aren't you?" I peeked up to see his cheeks turn pink.

"Y-yes, I am."

"And so is everyone else in Wonderland."

"Somewhat. Not everyone is in love with her right away, she just has to spend enough time around us and we can't help but fall in love with her."

"I don't understand."

"She's different from us; she takes value in things that we normally don't care about, because of this we're attracted to her. It's as if we're moved by some invisible force, we can't help ourselves."

My face was paling slowly as all the pieces began falling into place in my head. "Everyone can't help but fall in love with Miss Alice… so because all of you love her, none of you want her to leave." Everything in my head screamed at how unnatural and unsettling this was. "So… she's not the only player in the game?" I let go of his shoulders not trusting my reactions from here on out.

"No, everyone in Wonderland is a player, especially the role-holders."

"What's the good ending?"

He smiled. "When she decides, she'll stay in Wonderland, of course."

"You act as if she's already made her decision." I spat.

He looked a bit displeased at my reaction. "Well, I'm hoping she will stay. Besides you want to stay here too, don't you?"

My eyes widened, not expecting that question. "I-I'm not sure…" I looked to the side, not knowing what I wanted. "I don't know… I want what Alice wants."

"That wasn't much of an answer." He looked bored.

"H-hey! I'm sorry, but I never really had to make a free-willed decision on my own. I'm used to following the orders of others not myself!"

His body was tilted towards the side as he floated with his cheek pressed against the palm of his hand. "Here, you can make whatever decision you desire." He smiled. "Name one thing you want most and I can give it to you." _Wow, I feel like I'm about to sign my soul over to the Devil._

"Sorry, but no, I don't know you well enough to trust you." I was almost immediate with my answer.

"I'm not trying to take your soul—_BLARRRGGGHH_!" He started coughing up blood. I was immediately at his side.

"You haven't been going to the hospital, have you?" I asked in worry.

"Of course not! Hospitals are frea—"

"Yeah, yeah, they're freaky." I helped him wipe the blood off his face with my glove. "Even so you're at least taking your medication, right?"

"They taste like sour feet!"

I sighed. "Nightmare, you're never going to get better if you never allow yourself to be treated." I wiped the thumb of my glove across his bloody lips. I tensed up as I realized that I did a very intimate gesture. His eye was wide as he stared at me, I blushed. "S-sorry. Uh, that was… I-I didn't mean anything by that, or uh, yeah," I looked away in embarrassment, "this is getting awkward fast." Then another thought entered my mind. "These will not be covered in blood, when I wake up, right?" I was referring to the gloves.

Nightmare looked a bit dazed, before answering. "Wha-wha? O-of course not, it's the dream world most of the time what happens in here, doesn't affect you physically."

I let out a relieved sigh. "That's good. I only have one other pair besides this one, and those are dirty."

"Can't you just take off the gloves?" He asked in curiosity.

"T-take off the gloves?" My face paled. "N-no, way. I'm not doing that, _ever_."

"Why not?"

I plugged my fingers into my ears and started singing, "You don't need to know~ Lalala~ I'm not listening~ Lalala~ I'm not telling you~ Lalala~!" He was staring at me with a completely dumbfounded expression.

He pulled my hands away from my ears. "Please, stop that… it's getting really weird…. Did you just picture a unicorn in a field of flowers?"

"Well, I have to improvise, if I don't want you to read my mind. You should really stop eavesdropping."

"I-I can't help it! I just happen to overhear things! _Blaaaghh_!" He coughed up another mouthful of blood.

"I have a tip for you, Nightmare." I held onto his shoulders to make sure he doesn't go crashing down onto the floor. "Try drinking some chicken broth or something, I also recommend honey it helps soothe the throat."

"I would do that, if Gray didn't keep feeding me his hellish cooking."

"Haha that sounds awful."

"You have no idea."

I gave him a small smile of pity. "I wish you could try some of my cooking, it's certainly not hellish tasting at all." I hummed to myself. "You need to stop distracting me." He looked up at me in confusion. "What happens if one of the players besides Miss Alice wins the game?"

He smiled brightly at that. "The winner is the one who Alice falls in love with!"

It felt as if my heart stopped as the entire puzzle was finally completed. "Wh-what?"

"Alice also wins because she's in love. We're all in love with her so she'll be happy with any one of us! Although I would prefer it, if she wouldn't go with _certain_ people, but if she likes them, then it can't be helped." My hand dropped from his shoulder and I walked past him silently, my shoulders quivering. "Blake? Is something wrong?"

_I-is that how they all see Alice? Just as some trophy!_ I squeezed my hands into fists, gritting my teeth, sweat dripped from my brow. "Miss Alice isn't a toy!"

"I know that—"

"No, you _don't_ know! Because she's an outsider, a shiny new toy none of you has ever seen before, all of you are all over her. None of you want to share your brand new toy… but like every other toy, once you grow bored with it, you'll throw it away…"

"I don't see Alice as a toy." He sounded offended.

"And yet…" I turned to look at him, my golden eyes sharpening into a glare, "all of you are stumbling all over her like kittens over milk. It's…" I sneered, "sickening, pathetic, _weak_. You can't just fall in love with a person because of _what_ they are! That's not how it works!" He looked completely baffled as he listened to my explosion. "Love is… well," I put a hand over my heart, "when you love _who_ that person is. No matter how nice they are, or how rude they are. You love all of them. The good parts and the bad parts, you accept all of it." I smiled. "Even if they make you angry at times or vice versa you can always make up, because that person is your other half that you can't live without."

He was silent for a bit before stating. "You must know a lot about love." He crossed his arms and laid his chin on them while he gave me a devious smile. "You must have tons of experience."

"Huh?" I was confused. "With love?" I scratched my head, before smiling. "Not really."

Nightmare did a face-plant. "Wh-WHAT?! But you sound so experienced!"

"That's what it said the definition for love was in this one dictionary I was reading." He was gapping at me like a fish. "Is there something the matter, Nightmare?"

"So you've never fallen in love?" I looked at him in surprise. His gray eye was staring into mine both in curiosity and… some other emotion I couldn't read.

"…No." I twirled my thumbs together suddenly shy, a small blush rose to my cheeks. "I've never had the…" I was searching for the word, but couldn't find it, so instead I settled for, "delight to fall in love nor the chance of having a broken heart." My voice was very soft, as I turned my face to the side. "In fact… I'm glad that I've never fallen in love."

"Why not?"

"It would distract me from my duties." I deadpanned. "I don't need any distractions from Miss Alice right now. I need to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't get hurt in this country of sociopaths/idiots."

"I can… see your point."

"Good, I'm glad you understand." I folded my hands together. "Now there's one more serious question I need to ask you…"

"And that would be…?"

"How come I didn't get the Medicine of Hearts too?"

"W-wait! You mean you didn't get it?!" His once cool voice was now filled with shock.

I bit the inside of my cheek in the mixed emotions of confusion, frustration, and fear. "No, I didn't get one."

He frowned, obviously disturbed by the information that was given to him. "Foreigners always receive a vial upon entry. Are you sure it isn't on your person, and that you haven't checked?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I always check the pockets of my clothing before I wash them," I mumbled the last part.

"This isn't good," he frowned, "when this type of situation happens, which is rare, it's usually when the foreigner doesn't drink the medicine."

I blinked. "Why? What happens?"

"Well, they either are forcefully sent back to wherever they came from or if they don't drink the medicine within a week of entering Wonderland, they will disintegrate as the game will reject them."

I stared at him in complete horror. "Y-you mean they die?"

"Yes, in a way… more like their existence is erased entirely from Wonderland."

My face was completely pale as I felt my heartbeat in my chest stop. "B-but that's even worse…"

"Yeah, I think so too. Usually people think that Hell is the worst place to go to, but to be honest disappearing from existence and living in nothingness is much worse, in my opinion."

"Nightmare…" my voice was hoarse, "it's been over a week…"

"Huh?"

I looked at him with terror stricken eyes. "I've been in Wonderland for over a week…" my voice kept breaking up, "A-am I going to disappear?" My eyes were becoming watery. His shock-filled features became distorted through my tears. "I-I don't want to disappear…" I squeezed my eyes shut as my hands tightened into fists. "I don't want to live in nothingness… I don't want to be _alone_." I revealed my absolutely most terrifying fear of all.

A soft touch to my cheek made my eyes snap open, seeing Nightmare floating near me with determined expression on his face. "I'll find some answers, somehow. I promise." He was telling the truth, I could see it in his eyes—well, _eye_.

I briefly touched his hand before pulling away. "Thank you…" Suddenly he was fading away. "Nightmare…?" Just as I reached my hand out towards him, a bright light shone into my eyes, and I was back in my room, on my make-shift cot. I let my hand plop down onto the bed next to me. _Looks like demons can care too…_ A smile crossed my face. _I'm glad I've met him… he's one of the nicest people I've ever met, and he's a demon of all things! Talk about irony of ironies…_

I turned to the side to notice two strands of something next to me. "Hmm?" I brought the two strands closer to my face. _Hair…? But who's?_ The sunlight shone onto the two stands of hair revealing a rich brown. _Ace…_ I turned onto my back and spread my arms out. _So he visited me while I was asleep, huh? I hope he didn't try anything weird on me. _A small blush rose to my face, remembering yesterday. _He can be so… energetic and exhausting._ I smiled to myself. _Kind of like a dog._

I stretched. _Well, it's time to get up. Alice is probably hungry for breakfast, she didn't get too great of a dinner last night, and I shouldn't disappoint her again. Julius probably also needs his coffee fix._ I stood up, stretched out my arms. _I don't ever want to see Julius when he's not on his fix again, that was terrifyingly not normal._ Butterflies rose in my stomach, when I remembered his smile. _His smile is so gentle, I feel like it's something I'll never see again… or hear his chuckles._ I smacked myself across the face, literally. _Get yourself together, Blake! You are a proper servant of the Liddell family; you do not let pesky sentiments get in the way of your duties._

I whipped my tie off of the back of a spare chair I found, and started adjusting it around my collar. _It's time for work._

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Nightmare's POV***

Nightmare's eyes were closed into deep thought. _How is it possible that an outsider is able to… do that? It wasn't possible! Unless… _The dream demon suddenly felt another presence enter the realm.

"Having trouble there, Nightmare?" He turned to see the familiar smiling face of the jester.

"Joker…" Nightmare's eyes narrowed as he tried to read his mind, but couldn't. Joker was purposefully keeping him blocked out, as always.

"So I see that there's a new outsider in Wonderland. This wouldn't be any of your doing?"

"It wasn't you?"

"You know that I don't break the rules, Nightmare." He shrugged his shoulders causing the bells on his hat to jingle, his single garnet eye glaring into Nightmare's silver one. "After all, I'm the _only one_ who follows the rules."

Nightmare frowned. _If it wasn't Joker, who could it be?!_ There was someone in Wonderland, who was preventing Blake from leaving, and he had to find out who it was, before something bad happened. Nightmare could feel that something deadly was going to happen, and it would affect all of Wonderland.

"You can feel it too." The joker's smile was gone for once. "That new foreigner is not like any of the others that have been brought to Wonderland before."

_No… he isn't._ Nightmare could see the darkness and loneliness that surrounded the boy's heart, but there was something hidden deep within his heart that he kept locked away. Nightmare couldn't even grab ahold of it. _Could it be that secret of his, the one refuses to share with anyone even Alice?_ Nightmare could tell how special Alice was to him, he saw her as a little sister.

"You're being pretty quiet, Nightmare. Is something troubling you?" Joker was smiling, but he could tell he was mocking him.

"Leave," Nightmare spoke and with a wave of his arm, he threw Joker out of the Dream Realm. Nightmare needed to think without any interference. It was hard to believe that Blake had so many secrets to hide. He seemed like a pretty sweet young man. He admired Blake's loyalty and devotion to Alice that he was willing to defend her at all costs. And his heart was surprisingly pure for someone with such a hard life from what Nightmare could see from the boy's memories.

"_The face of an angel, the heart of the Devil."_ Nightmare frowned. How could anyone say that to Blake? Blake was gentle… he smiled remembering how Blake never hesitated to help him whenever he coughed up blood, and he wasn't grossed out by the blood either, or bothered by his complaining. The dream demon decided that he would help Blake in any way he could.

Nightmare exited the Dream Realm and opened his eye to the real world.

"Oh, so you've finally awakened, Lord Nightmare."

Paling, Nightmare slowly looked up to see Gray smiling down at him with a look that said. _"I'm going to make sure you don't go back to sleep again and bury you under a pile of paperwork so big, in order to save yourself you'll need to complete ALL of it. Is that understood?"_

Nightmare shrunk back in his seat in complete terror.

* * *

**Aww, poor Nightmare... then again he did dig his own grave.**

**Nightmare: Hey!**

**Void: It's the truth. If you didn't skip out on your paperwork and medicine and hospital visits _constantly_ your life would be soooo much easier.**

**Nightmare: Gray overworks me! Hospitals are scary! And the medicine is disgusting! There's no way I'm doing any of those things!**

**Void: *ignoring his whining* So what do you guys think of Joker? That was White by the way... if none of you figured that out (which I'm sure the majority has and are probably thinking that I'm an idiot just about now). I'm not exactly sure if I got his speech pattern/personality right. I read the mangas Alice in the Country of Joker vol. 1-5 but it didn't really show that much of Joker ._.**

**Nightmare: Don't ignore me! I am important!**

**Void: *stuffs a pillow in his face***

**Nightmare: MMMpphhfff-!**

**Void: Keep a close eye on these little stories of Blake's past, they are important more important than Nightmare (lol, I'm joking... okay, maybe not). Especially the quote "The face of an angel, the heart of the Devil." That will be popping up everywhere throughout the story.**

**Nightmare: *struggling***

**Void: *still ignoring him* I got some Nightmare x Blake fluff in there, I decided the demon needs some love. :3**

**Nightmare: *goes limp***

**Void: *doesn't even notice* So please review and-**

**Blake: YOU'VE KILLED HIM!**

**Void: Huh? *lifts pillow and sees a passed out Nightmare* ...Oops...**

**Blake: *checking Nightmare's breathing* No, you can't die! YOU'RE A DEMON! DEMONS DON'T DIE THIS EASILY! *shaking his shoulders gently* I've never done CPR! WAKE UP!**

**Void: *looks over to you guys* If you want me to save Nightmare (no CPR is required, I'm the god of this writing world/area, I can do what I want) I better get at least 7 reviews..._  
_**


	15. Chapter XV: Don't Piss Off Loyalty

**Sorry it took so long to update guys, I'm getting a bit behind on my homework ^^;**

**Boris: A _little_?**

**Void: Okay, maybe it's a lot, but I'll catch up! Somehow!**

**Boris: _Tch_, yeah right.**

**Void: Boris... quit being a mean kitty.**

**Boris: I can be a mean kitty if I want to! :3**

**Void: Oh, if that's the case then *laughing under her breath***

**Boris: Wh-why are you laughing like that? *starting to back away***

**Anyways, Special Thanks to the Following Peoples or Creatures (O.o):**

_**CherryBerry58**_**:****Thank you for the review, and yes Blake is BA and so is the story! :D**

_**Allora22701**_**: I'm considering having Blake meet the Hatters soon ;) but we'll see, thanks for the review!**

**Guest [1]: Lol you're gonna have to wait for those gloves for a little longer (hang in there, we'll get to them... eventually ;) I'm so evil) thanks for the review!**

_**Tziphora**_**: **** Yes, I am a cruel person :) More and more of Blake's past will be revealed throughout the story (there's a lot of deeper meanings within each past mini story, so be sure to analyze them really well), be patient we'll eventually get through them all :D Thanks for the review!**

**MoonlightShadow (Guest): I guess you'll have to wait and see what happens if Alice gets attacked then :) Blake's not to be messed with. Thanks for the review! ^^**

_**ShinobiShinigami58**_**:****I reveal... NOTHING! You'll just have to keep reading the story if you want to find out ;) Thank you for the review!**

_**dollmaster2001: **_** Thank you for the story follows and favs and author follows and favs as well :3**

_**FloraRose23**_**: Thank you for review as always! ^^ You'll start seeing some of drama/horror Blake as the story goes on! Hehehe *laughing evilly***

_**EnchantedWonderUniverse**_**: Thank you for the story fav and follow!**

_**Elezan Tress**_**:****LOL, I hope I can change your mind about the whole Julius x Blake thing... :) I'll change it somehow... Anyways thank you so much for your support for the story through reviewing, favoriting and following both me and the story! :D Let's see if I can inspire anymore peeps/guests to make a profile through my totally awesome writing skills! (Boris: Aaaand she's getting way over head again...)**

_**kankananime123**_**:**** Thank you for the story follow!**

**Guest [2]: I can make a guess of how much you love my story. You read my story every day over and over again, and it's gotten so bad to the point where the policies of Wonderland has become a religion to you and you worship Blake as your god! *cackling* No? Awww... enjoy the new chapter and thanks for the review XD !**

_**Xsier**_**: ****Thank you for de follow! Muahahaha *something gets caught in throat and starts hacking* N-no *hack* *hack* I don't wanna turn into Nightmare *cough* *hack* He's too derpy! Nightmare: EXCUSE ME? Void: You heard me! Nightmare: I'll have you know that I'm _very_ important, so important that I'm *coughing up blood* Void: You're so important that you're coughing up blood. Nightmare: N-no that's not what I-*cough* *cough***

_**bonnielove13**_**: Thank you for the story fav!**

_**Sen'ninriki**_**: You have no idea how much it elates me to hear someone say that. *shiny eyes* I'll continue to do my best to make sure that this story remains as one of the best in your heart! :D Thank you for the review, and story follow and favorite!**

**As for the disclaimer I don't own J/C/HnKnA, QR does. I only own Blake, Rosie, Jon, Lord Frederic, and any other OC I neglected to mention!**

**Boris: You're sooo caring *sarcastic***

**Void: Which reminds me! One of my reviewer's, MoonlightShadow (Guest), gave me this _great_ suggestion, but I decided to add a few more _tweaks _to it. *smiling innocently***

**Boris: Wh-what tweaks? *really not liking this***

**Void: *holds up an 8 foot long pole with catnip attached to the tip of it***

**Boris: *eyes go completely wide, before going completely ballistic***

**Void: *chuckling evilly, before holding the catnip above a pool***

**Boris: *falls into pool* Mreowrrrawwwhrrrr *_hisss_*! *thrashing around in the water***

**Void: Boris... *giggling*****  
**

**Boris: I'm DROWNING *garble* HELP!**

**Void: Yes, because it's so easy to drown in a kitty pool.**

**Boris: Mreowr?**

* * *

_Chapter XV: Don't Piss Off Loyalty_

***Blake's POV***

_Ugh, I'm an idiot! Why didn't I ask, which room Alice was staying in?_ I let out a sigh. _Maybe Julius will know._ I raised my hand to knock on Julius's door thrice. "Mr. Monrey?" I looked towards his desk. Amazingly, he actually went to bed for once.

There was no answer.

I knocked again. "Mr. Monrey, please excuse my entering." I pushed open the door to see a huge lump in the middle of the bed. _Looks like his lack of sleep finally caught up to him._ I started backing away. _Perhaps it would be best if I left him to sleep._ I was just about to close the door behind me, when I heard a _very_ feminine yawn behind me. I froze. The bed behind me adjusted a bit, before going silent.

My expression darkened. I pivoted on my heel, and strode over to the bed side. Ripping the covers off the bed I revealed a very sleepy clockmaker and young mistress next to each other… or perhaps I should say, embracing each other. "What is the meaning of _this_?!" my voice was dangerously low, but sharp enough to awaken the both of them.

Alice's eyes were the first to open. "Blake…?" Her eyes suddenly snapped open. "Blake?! What are you doing here?!"

My eye twitched. "What am I doing here, you ask, young mistress? I was here to ask Mr. Monrey, here, where you were staying for the night, as you've neglected to inform me last night, only to find you in the same _bed_ as him, in _his arms_." By this point, Julius was completely awake and blushing at the intimate way he was holding Alice. _Of course he would be blushing, 'everyone loves Alice after all'!_ "Unhand her at this moment, Monrey!" I didn't bother addressing him properly, because to be honest, I'm only proper to those I respect, I do _not_ respect him at this moment.

Shocked at the anger in my voice towards him, he immediately released her.

"And _you_, young lady! How dare you go sneaking behind _my back_ to sleep with a man!"

"_Excuse me_?! I believe I have every right to do whatever I want! You're my _servant_, I'm not _yours_. Besides, we weren't doing anything! We were just sleeping!"

"I don't care on all accounts. I'm disappointed in the both of you! Young mistress you should've known better! And _you_," my glare intensified on Julius, "_Monrey_, don't you _dare_ lay your hand on my mistress again without my permission, understood?"

Julius was completely speechless. _He's never seen me this angry, before now that I think about it._

"You are not to be sleeping with this _pedophile_ from now on." Julius's face turned pale at that comment.

"Julius isn't a pedophile! He's my friend." Alice protested, her cheeks puffing out in anger.

"Him being your friend doesn't pertain to _anything_, you don't see _me _wrapping my arms around you and sleeping with you."

"You used to sleep with me!"

I hesitated a bit caught off guard with that statement. "We were _children_ then! The point is I don't sleep with you _now_." A small blush of embarrassment formed across my cheeks. "Besides you're still underage! He's a full adult! It's _improper_ for the two of you to sleep together!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Alice smirked turning her head to the side. "Are you going to nag on me, until I agree to follow your rules?"

"Actually, no." Alice had a smile of triumph, until... "You're going to do exactly as I say, because I am your guardian."

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Julius's POV***

_P-p-pedophile?! Blake thinks that I'm a pedophile?!_ The clockmaker was absolutely horrified. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea that he slept with Alice. _But she was so insistent!_ He knew that was still no excuse for his previous actions.

Blake was glaring at him. Her thick lashes narrowed, her honeyed eyes darkening as the pupils of her eyes turned into slits. It was so subtle, the slits in her eyes, he had to squint to see it past the deep brown that seeped into her gold irises. A shiver went down his spine. Her eyes reminded him of a snake's. As if he was her prey, and she was eyeing him just before the kill.

Julius was as far away from Alice as the room would allow. He had the feeling that even though Blake had gotten to know him slightly and saw him as an ally of sorts, she wouldn't hesitate to shove a dagger into his chest if he ever hurt Alice in any way.

Oddly enough, Julius felt as if he betrayed her. _But why should he feel that way? He loves Alice, not Blake._

"Julius isn't a pedophile! He's my friend." Alice hotly protested in his defense.

He winced as his chest twinged. Alice was completely unaware of his feelings for her; it hurt to hear her call him a friend. He wanted to be more. But he knew that could never happen. Alice would never see him as a lover. So why is it that he continues to love her?

Alice and Blake continued to argue with one another. The mortician was surprised to see that Blake was arguing with Alice. He thought that Blake would do whatever Alice ordered him to do, but it seems that Blake will take command when it's necessary…. Apparently this is necessary. Julius noticed that Alice was slowly winning the argument, as a smile was crossing her face and Blake's shoulders were beginning to sag.

Then suddenly Blake said. "You're going to do exactly as I say, because I am your guardian."

The whole room went silent after that. Julius's blue eyes widened. Did he hear what he thought he just heard?

"What." Alice's voice was shaky. She was on the same mindset as he it seemed. After all they both have very similar views.

"If there were ever to be a disaster or situation in the family of which put the children, of the Lord and Lady, into jeopardy, the servants are to take automatic care, of said children, until they either find a home for the children with a relative or raise the children until they are able to lead the family. That is what the contract, every servant in the Liddell family signed, dictates." Blake flawlessly spoke. "Lord Frederic made me promise him, just before his death, that if anything were to happen to Lord Frederic or Lady Lorina that I would take care of you and young Edith.

"Therefore, until you are of age to take care of yourself, young mistress, I will be your guardian." Blake was standing straight up, her hands clasped to her elbows behind her back. "You will abide by my rules. If I give you instructions that concern your safety, you will follow them. And above all you will not go against me. Is that understood?"

_Lord Frederic…? I wonder who that is..._

It was so easy to read the shock on Alice's face; it was like reading an open book with pictures. "Y-you can't do that!" she yelped, pointing her finger accusingly at Blake causing Blake's eyes to narrow further. "You're only a year older than me!" Julius admired Alice's bravery. She was able to stand up to Blake without one ounce of fear in her, while he was pressed against the wall in terror. Then again, Alice probably knew that Blake would never hurt her. As for him, not so much.

"If I may insert a correction, young mistress, I am a year-and-a-_half_ older than you." Julius almost chuckled at Blake's polite yet childish protest towards Alice. He was glad he didn't.

"Same difference! You're barely an adult yourself!"

"No, I _am_ an adult; you're the one who's still a child."

"I'm _seventeen_!"

"As I said, a child, and my duty as the older one, is to take care of you and protect you from men who want to take advantage of you."

"Julius would never take advantage of me!" Julius felt a little moved by Alice's naïve faith in him, while at the same time depressed that she was completely oblivious to his true feelings for her.

Blake glanced his way; the blood in his veins ran cold as Blake silently regarded him. "… Young mistress… you're lucky you've chosen this man to spend the night with and not someone else because I would hope that Monrey wouldn't be the type to take advantage of someone while they were vulnerable, is that right Monrey?" Blake smiled at him, it seemed friendly, but there was sense of danger behind it.

Julius's voice was strangled as he spoke; it felt as if a hand was wrapped around his throat, ready to choke him to death if he said one wrong word. "O-of course, I would never take advantage of someone while they are vulnerable." He was lying; he already took advantage of Blake while she was unconscious.

"I'm glad, then, Monrey. I trust something like this will never happen again."

"It won't." Julius swallowed a clump that was forming in his throat.

"Good." She turned her attention back to Alice. "Now, young mistress, we shall find a room for you to stay in." (Translation: I will find you a room, as far away from Monrey's room as physically possible.) She gently took Alice by the shoulders and guided her out of the clockmaker's bedroom.

Julius was standing at the doorway as Blake was walking past him; she suddenly paused and was staring at his chest. Julius felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden as Blake continued to study his chest; then slowly her gold eyes met with his blue ones. "You may want to button up your shirt, Monrey." That's all she said before she left with Alice in tow.

Julius blushed as he saw that a few of his buttons of his nightshirt were unbuttoned revealing his upper chest. _When did those become unbuttoned!?_ He buttoned them back up, his hands fumbling causing him to button them wrong and have to re-button them again and again.

He couldn't stop thinking of Blake. Of how disappointed she must be in him. And the new side of her, he met today. Her sharp tongue was able to pierce right through him. She was exactly like a snake, the deadliest kind, she didn't even have touch him to inject her poison. Blake had this aura around her that felt… unsafe. Unnatural fear rose inside him that he should stay away from her, that she would endanger him in some way if he stayed near her. But at the same time, Julius couldn't help but think of how alluring this mysterious side of Blake was. He wanted to know more about this secretive girl. He wanted to understand her.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Alice's POV***

_Ugh, Blake is being so overprotective!_ Alice groaned inside her head. Never did she think that Blake would go so far to protect her. She always knew Blake was protective of her, but not _this _protective.

For the past half-hour, Blake was dragging Alice all over the tower looking for and Alice will quote_, "The most suitable of places for the young mistress to stay in both luxury and without fear of finding a man in her bed."_ Blake hasn't even noticed, Alice noted very annoyingly, that Alice has been in her nightdress this entire time, and she was about to freeze to death!

Blake was leading her down _another_ corridor, when Alice finally had it, "Blake…"

"Yes, young mistress?" Blake's voice still held an edge to it. Alice couldn't recall a time, when Blake was actually mad at her like this.

"I'm still in my nightgown!" Alice snapped at her.

Blake paused in his footsteps, before turning to observe what Alice was wearing. Alice immediately took notice of the small blush that slowly formed across his cheeks. "Oh…" Alice blushed furiously. _Does Blake like me?_

Alice's fist swung out at Blake in reflex, as she shouted, "PERVERT!" Her hit landed, and next thing she knew Blake was a twitching mass on the ground. Alice ran all the way back to Julius's room, bumping into Julius as he was walking out the door.

He held her dress out to her with one hand.

"Thanks, Julius."

He nodded his head, before going to his desk to start his work for the day. _Workaholic…_

At that moment Blake latched onto the door frame leading into the room, while her other hand was holding the recently punched cheek. "Y-young mistress!"

"Don't look at me!" Alice shrieked while locking herself in Julius's bedroom. A massive blush was sported across her cheeks. Why was she acting this way? She was never bothered by Blake seeing her in her nightgown before, in their world, so why now? Quickly changing into her dress, she pondered these thoughts. Could it be that they were separated for so long? Or could it be that she was used to all the weirdoes in this world doing creepy things to her (like Blood for an example)? If that was the case, then why didn't she mind Julius seeing her in her nightgown? Alice groaned loudly as she perfected her outfit by tying her blue bow with one heart on top her head.

But could it be that Blake _like_ liked her…? Alice shook her head.

What was she thinking?! This was Blake we're talking about! Blake would never think of something so corrupt! He's loyal to her and would never see her in that manner. Sure he can be a bit of a neat freak, and be a bit too obsessed with schedules and always being on time. Not to mention that he's one of those 'by-the-book' people. But he can also be very sweet and would do anything in the world for her.

Alice leaned against the door as she breathed in deeply. Okay, she was going to walk out there, and apologize to Blake.

She opened the door.

Blake was standing right there, his honey eyes looking into hers. "Miss Ali—"

Alice slammed the door, her face blushing again. It took her a minute or two to realize what she did. She opened the door again to see Blake on the floor holding his face in pain, Julius at his side with a shocked expression on his face. "Oh my God! Blake, I'm so sorry!" Her clogs tapped against the wood floor as she squat down to help Julius sit Blake up.

"Nngh, Miss Alice," Blake held a hand to his head; Alice could see a bruise already forming in the center of his forehead.

"Are you okay, Blake?!"

"It's just a bruise." He winced, "I'll be fine… I think."

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—I'm sorry!" Her movements were frantic as she fussed over the injured servant. It was amazing that Blake's nose was completely unharmed; Alice would've thought for sure that would've been the first body part to be damaged. "I'll be back!" She ran off to find ice. After completing this task, she hurried back to Blake.

Opening the door, she saw an interesting sight displayed out on the couch.

Her loyal servant's back was leaned up against Julius's chest, blushing like a maniac while Julius worried over him, checking his bruise and keeping a steady arm wrapped around Blake's waist so he wouldn't fall.

_Wow…_ She dropped the ice pack in surprise.

Her eyes immediately took notice of the thumb that was stroking Blake's side in an unconscious manner.

Is Julius completely unaware of the intimate position they're in? Blake seemed to be highly aware of it; he looked as if he was just about to pass out. He never was good with human contact, but then again… neither was Julius. This is quite the curious development.

"Um, Julius?"

They both finally seemed to notice her presence in the room. The embarrassment in the poor boy rose as Alice, his beloved young mistress, now saw him in such an intimate position. Tears rose in his eyes.

"Y-young mistress," his voice sounded so utterly pathetic, she couldn't help but feel pity for him.

"You're finally here, do you have the ice?" Julius asked, completely oblivious to the situation.

"Julius… you're…" Alice's voice was quiet, "Why are you holding Blake so… intimately?" The clockmaker seemed confused at her words at first, but then it seemed to dawn upon him. Alice could see his shoulders tensing up to do something that he would regret later. "Wait, Julius, DON'T—!" It was too late as he dropped Blake, and the poor servant's head came into contact with the edge of the coffee table. The boy dropped to the floor limply. "…" Alice's outstretched hand was completely frozen, her jaw dropped.

"…"

The boy stayed unmoving on the wood flooring.

"…"

"..."

"…You killed him!" Alice accused Julius, glaring at him.

Julius was cut off guard by that statement. "I-I did no such thing!"

Alice didn't know what to do, as Blake's body just laid there. "W-well, do something!"

"And what do you suggest I do?" His voice was a bit panicked.

"I don't know! Check to see if he's alive!"

Julius held his hand over the boy's mouth. "…He's not breathing…" He sweated in anxiety.

Alice strode over and laid her ear over Blake's chest, his heart was still beating. "He's alive." She repeated Julius's motion of putting her hand over Blake's mouth. He was breathing very slowly. Good, at least they don't need to do mouth-to-mouth.

"M-miss Alice…?" Blake stirred, looking weakly up at her, she felt her heart twist.

"Blake."

"I'm sorry, I…" he closed his eyes, "I failed you… I should have been a better guardian…"

"Y-you didn't fail me! You were always there for me, no matter what!"

"Miss Alice… I-I have a favor I need to ask of you." Blake coughed a bit.

Alice was a bit dumbfounded that Blake was coughing, when his head was the part that was hurt. "What is it?"

"Promise me…" Blake wheezed, "That you'll stay in the room next to mine. That you'll always listen to me… please, I beg of you…" Alice's grip tightened on his shoulders. Oh, so he thinks he can manipulate her?

"Oh… I see…" Her eyes darkened. "Nice try, Blake, but I can tell you're faking it." She didn't like at all what Blake was trying to do.

"M-miss Alice…?" Blake tried desperately to hold onto the act.

Something inside Alice snapped. "You think I'm that stupid?!" Her blue eyes sharpened into a glare at the servant. "Don't try that act on me again! Your head was hurt, not your chest!" Why would Blake lie to her? Didn't he know that she was already worried enough about him being hurt? "I'm not as gullible as I used to be Blake!" Her eyes watered, as her hands turned into fists at her sides. She used to believe everything Blake told her, once upon a time. But that was years ago… and they've grown apart.

Blake was sitting up at this point, his gloved hand reaching out towards her. "Miss Alice… I—" Alice slapped his hand away in disgust.

"I trusted you! I always did." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "And now you're lying to me…?" She already had enough of the manipulation Blood had put her through, and now Blake was…

"No, Miss Alice, I didn't mean—"

"You _jerk_!" She yelled at Blake, before stopping, when seeing Blake's expression.

Blake's gaze was lowered to the floor in complete shame, his gold eyes turning a light sad brown. His hair dropped like puppy ears, his gloved hand-like paws gripped his trousers. His bottom lip was slightly jutted out into a pout. All of Alice's defenses at that moment were shattered. _He looks so…_ He squeezed his eyes shut, as he whimpered pitifully, "I apologize, Miss Alice. I didn't mean to make you upset, I just wanted you to listen to me. I was so desperate to make you listen that I tried to deceive you, and that was wrong of me. I'm sorry! I'm a horrible guardian."

Lunging at him, Alice glomped Blake, knocking him to the ground. "Why are you so _cute_?!" She rubbed her cheek against his as his face turned completely red.

"M-Miss Alice?" he squeaked.

Why is that she couldn't stay mad at him for long?! "I forgive you~!" _Awww, why would I ever punch him, or think that he's a pervert? He's the cutest thing ever! Comparable to Boris… which by the way I need to… _ Alice's eyes snapped open. "I'm LATE!" She jumped off Blake, and sprinted out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

) OoO0oOo0OoO (

***Blake's POV***

I stared wide-eyed at the door. Happiness crashed over me like a tidal wave. "Miss Alice…" my eyes shined, "Thank you." I thanked her even though I knew she couldn't hear me. _Thank you for this second chance!_ I looked at Julius with bright eyes. "Did you hear that?! She forgave me!"

He stared at me weirdly. "Yes… I don't see what's so special about that."

I just smiled and hugged my knees. _I wonder if she forgives me for abandoning her, years ago…_ "Monrey…" I stood up off the floor, dusting myself off, "I still don't forgive you." He twitched, shocked by my bluntness. "What? You expected me to forgive you that easily?" Glaring into his eyes, I watched him uncomfortably fold his arms in front of him. "Alice is becoming a young woman, and I have to protect her, even if it means protecting her from people whom I care for as well."

Eyes widening slowly, his face heated up. "You care for me?"

"Wha-uh…" I blushed in embarrassment at what I just said, "D-don't take that the wrong way or anything, I respect you—I mean I don't respect you—I mean _ugghhh_!" I gripped my hair in frustration. _Why is it that I can't stay angry at him?!_ "I'm thankful for you being there to take me in and I'm most of all thankful for when you took Alice in, when she first came to Wonderland!" I bowed to him. "I never thanked you properly, but thank you for protecting the young mistress in the time of her greatest needs. I am indebted to you beyond what any amount of money can ever pay… but," I grabbed the front of his vest, "don't think that this lets you get away to do whatever you please with Miss Alice!"

"I never intended to take advantage of her," Julius put his hands on my shoulders.

"You didn't?" I deadpanned.

"No, I would never take advantage of her."

"Oh…" My hands let go of his vest. "But be warned, if I see any more suspicious activity in the future between you and Alice, I won't be so lenient. This is your one and final warning." I shook my finger at him as if he were a naughty child.

He caught my hand suddenly, causing me to jump from the unexpected action. "Who's going to protect you?"

Frowning in confusion, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"You're becoming a young woman as well. Who's going to protect you, when you need protection?"

"Ah… um…" I looked away to look at anything, but him, a book on the shelf suddenly took my interest, _The Mechanisms and Workings of Clocks_. "I'm not growing into a woman remember? I have to learn how to be a man. How to be able to fight for myself… The only who will protect me is me."

"Is that right?" Julius's voice suddenly turned an octave darker. _Huh—?!_ My back was pushed against the desk and a pair of midnight blue eyes was staring into mine. The cold metal of the steel desk beneath me chilled my back and uncomfortably bunched up the back of my shirt.

"J-Julius!" I let out a surprised gasp. _Shit, I accidently said his first name again._ He had both of my wrists pinned above my head as he leaned over me. His cool breath fanned over my face. My face turned a deep red. _Wh-what is he doing?!_

"The only one who will protect you is you, hmm?" His lips were centimeters from my ear.

"I-I don't understand—nnngh!" He nipped at the sensitive skin just behind my ear. I tried to squirm away from underneath him, but that only resulted in him tightening his grip on my hands. I was trapped. "J-Julius." He pressed his lips to the reddening mark on my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut. _What is he doing to me?_

"Why aren't you stopping me?" His voice was breathy as he trailed down to my neck. Everything was becoming fuzzy around me. He was right. Why wasn't I stopping him? His lips pressed against a particularly sensitive spot in my neck, and I let out a moan. I snapped my mouth shut, heat spreading throughout my body. _Why the bloody hell did I just make that noise?!_ He continued administering kisses to that particular spot, lightly nipping and sucking, driving me completely crazy. It took everything within me not to make any noise. My toes curled inside my boots. _Oh God… why is it becoming… so hard… to… think…?_

"Julius…" my voice was weak. He suddenly bit down _hard_. "Ah!" That _hurt._ He lapped up the blood rising from my wound, before kissing it tenderly. "Wh-what was that for?!" I found myself turning my head to the side giving him more access to my neck. _Better yet… what the hell am __**I**__ doing?_ He took full advantage of this chance attacking my neck with kisses, his free hand started to travel lower towards my stomach. I couldn't hold back any more, when his hand somehow found a way under my shirt and was now brushing over my bare stomach. My hands turned into fists as my back slightly arched, my eyes almost rolling back into my skull from the pleasure.

He hummed against my neck. "This was unexpected…" I noticed that my vest became slack suddenly. _Wh-when did he—? _"Perhaps you're enjoying this more than I thought you would." He slipped my blue tie off and threw it away, exposing my neck even further.

"J-Julius, please…" I whimpered. I wasn't used to this… at all.

"Please, _what_?" His hand flattened against my stomach. "What happened, Blake?" His lips hovered over mine. "What happened to that terrifying part of you I saw today? Why am I not seeing it right now?" He spread my legs with his one hand, still keeping my hands pinned down with the other hand, and he wedged himself between my legs. My breath got caught in my throat. "Does it only come out, when it involves Alice?" His other hand let go of my wrists and stroked my cheek. "How can you ever protect yourself, if you can only protect one other person?"

"St-stop!" I cried out. "Stop it!"

"You think yelling that out, is going to stop someone like me?" His voice was harsh. "Do you think giving someone an order is going to stop them from breaking it?" My shirt was unbuttoned, exposing my chest bindings and scarred stomach. "Our world isn't the same as yours. Here, if we want something we'll take it, nothing will stop us. If you want to escape you have to fight back with everything you have, if not..."

Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. I was scared. I didn't like how vulnerable Julius was making me feel, how truly pathetic I was. Using both of my hands, I wiped away the streams of tears covering my cheeks. "Wh-why are you doing this?" He let curl up into pitiful ball on his desk as I bawled like a baby.

I jumped when I felt his hand rubbing soothing circles into my back. Two words came from his mouth that surprised me. "I'm sorry." I cried even harder. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he betrays my trust in him, and starts doing that. It wasn't fair that he thought that he could just apologize and think that I would forgive him. "I just wanted you to be aware that at any point in time, anyone can and will take advantage of you." _Take advantage of me? _

He lifted me off the desk bridal style and carried me to the couch. I didn't bother fighting back, what was the point? It was obvious I was too weak to fight back. He sat down with me on his lap and hugged me to his chest, this time much less crushing than last time. "I'm sorry. Please, stop crying." I tightly gripped the front of his overcoat, as my crying soon reduced to hiccups. He looked down at me, wiping away my tears with his thumb. "I don't know what to do when you cry."

"Well," I hiccupped again, "you can start by not being the _cause_ of my crying."

He flinched. "I'm sorry, truly." My face was tilted up with his finger and thumb. He seemed to be genuinely sorry; his gaze then traveled lower to my stomach. Self-consciousness rose in me as I realized as my front was exposed (my bindings were still on, but they can only cover so much). "You're right you do heal fast." He ran a finger over my stitches, causing a shiver to go through me. _Please. Don't. Touch. Stop. Touching._ "We need to get these stitches removed." Peering closer at the scars on my stomach, he touched a particularly nasty looking one. A shudder went through me; he seemed to notice that one as he was staring at me in interest. "Did that hurt?"

"Ah, n-no," I admitted shamefully, "j-just please stop doing that."

"Stop doing what?" His voice became soft, teasing almost. His finger started tracing itself along my scars.

Another shudder went through me as I gripped his shoulders for support. "Unnghh…" My breathing was becoming uneven. Is he not aware of how _no one_ has touched me in such an intimate manner?

"Who did this to you?" his voice was almost whisper.

I blinked, surprised by the question. "Oh, that?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't worry about that, it happened a long time ago." He was silent as he continued to stare at my scars. "I know… they're ugly alright, so just… stop staring." I turned my face to the side, gritting my teeth in self-shame. My body was then jostled backwards awkwardly, my grip on his shoulders tightened so I wouldn't fall. "What're you doin—?"

He pressed his lips to the scar on my stomach, rendering me completely speechless. His beautiful blue eyes smiled gently at me. "I would never hurt you, Blake."

So much emotion gripped my heart from just that simple statement; I ended up hugging him tightly. Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes, as I buried my face into his shoulder. Julius was completely stiff underneath me, not expecting the hug at all. He awkwardly returned the hug. Then suddenly I remembered. I pulled back frowning and he jumped from my emotion swing. "You lie. You already hurt me. Remember that time in the tent when you pushed me? And the time when you tried killing Ace and I with your wrench? And today when you dropped me and I hit my head on the edge of the table, which by the way still hurts. _And_ when you bit me—mmmpff!" He covered my mouth with his hand.

"I understand your point, just stop talking, troublesome child." I glared at him when he called me a 'child'. "I'll try not to accidently hurt you from now on." I ripped his hand off my mouth.

"The bite was completely _not_ 'accidental'!"

"You're right. It wasn't, care for it again?" That effectively shut me up. "Now get off me, you're distracting me from work."

_**Excuse **__me? You're the one who came after __**me**__!_ Instead I stubbornly continued sitting in his lap, crossing my arms over my chest while I glared at him with a slight pout. "Not until you acknowledge the fact that you distracted yourself! Besides you were the one who provoked me first by sleeping with Miss Alice—!" He grabbed my chin between his thumb and finger and brought me close to his face.

His lips were almost skimming over mine, he was so close. I felt myself becoming dizzy. _Wh-wha…?_ "If you don't get off me soon, I'll completely _lose control_," it sounded almost like a threat. As soon as he let go of my chin, I found myself scrambling off of him, shrinking away from him as far as the couch would allow.

He strode over to his desk nonchalantly. Putting on his pair of glasses, he went to work, completely ignoring my embarrassed/dumbfounded expression.

_What did he mean by lose control?!_

* * *

**I hope this chapter made up for the late update :3 Poor Blake she's completely unaware of Julius's intentions.**

**I know I made Julius a little aggressive in this chapter, but be reminded he was doing that show her that she needs to find a way to protect herself... somehow.**

**Blake: What happened to Boris? *watching the soaking wet cat attempt to dry himself in the corner***

**Void: Oh... he kept being annoying... so I tricked him. *smiles***

**Blake: Then I suppose whatever he did, he deserved it fully *smiling back***

**Boris: *shivering, while staring wide-eyed at Void and Blake* What is _wrong_ with you two?**

**Void: Well whatever it is, it can never reach the level of Ace's.**

**Ace: I heard my name *smiling***

**Void: ...You must've heard wrong.**

**Ace: No, I'm pretty sure I've heard my name... *zeroing in on Blake, then proceeds to glomp her* My angel~! *sniffing her neck* Why do you smell like Julius?**

**Blake: ...uh...**

**Ace: You weren't being naughty were you, Blake?**

**Blake: ...um... *heavily blushes***

**Ace: Oooohh~ I'm going to have to teach you a lesson, angel, for being so naughty~**

**Void: *kicks Ace off the screen* You don't come in until later! WAIT YOUR DAMN TURN!**

**Ace: Aww**

**If you want to see the next chapter I better get _at least 10 REVIEWS_! Yeah you heard me, 10!**


End file.
